Clarity
by Himitsu-paws
Summary: Madara was never the type to put all his eggs in one basket. In the event that Obito failed, he set in place an alternate method of resurrection. Sakura really did have the worst luck with Uchihas, but nothing prepared her for sharing her mind and body with one, especially one that was supposed to be dead. See profile for update status.
1. The Beginning

**A/N:** This is going to be a novel length fic of what would happen if Sakura ended up with Madara's soul and mind sealed inside her. The plot I have thought out for this is pretty epic and will start sometime shortly before Itachi's death in the manga and follow the basic story, though it will end up as AU around the war arc. Since I work full time and have other real life commitments, chapters will vary in length from around 1k words to over 2k. Most chapters will be over 2k+ words, and some will be even longer than that to accommodate key plot points. I usually update once a week unless I'm sick or something comes up. Please review if you like the story, it would mean a lot to me to hear what you think, even if it's a short note. This isn't beta read at all, so forgive any grammar errors.

**Summary:** Madara was never the type to put all his eggs in one basket. In the event that Obito failed, he set in place an alternate method of resurrection. Sakura really did have the worst luck with Uchihas, but nothing prepared her for sharing her mind and body with one, especially one that was supposed to be dead. Eventual MadaSaku, slow burning romance with a touch of humor.

**Note:** Give it a couple chapters if you're a new reader. My writing has gotten better as I put out updates.

**Rating:** T for now, M eventually.

**Disclaimer:** Don't own Naruto and related franchise.

Starting next chapter:

_Sakura speaking to Madara in her mind._

**Madara speaking to Sakura in her mind.**

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><p><strong>-The Beginning-<strong>

"Now... move..." the elderly Madara wheezed, as the tubes connecting him to the Gedo Mazo, the only reason that had remained alive for years, severed and dropped from his back. Ignoring a wide-eyed Obito, he fell back heavily into the wooden throne, his body quickly growing weak, death swiftly approaching. He felt satisfied he had properly instructed the Uchiha boy on how to act in his stead, and that he would be brought back to life at the right moment.

Black Zetsu would ensure that Obito would remain on the right path. In time, that Nagato brat would eventually gain enough mastery over his eyes to perform the Rinne Tensei, and then he would take over from Obito and enact the Eye of the Moon plan, saving the world from its wretched self and bring happiness and peace to everyone. "Until my revival..." he told the boy, "You are... Madara Uchiha."

As darkness clouded his vision and it became increasingly harder to breathe, his mouth pulled into a faint scowl. He never liked only leaving himself one option. Obito was fully committed to the role of Madara and would faithfully act in his stead, he was sure of that. Even now the boy had a determined look in his eye. Yet he hated not having even a contingency plan in case events did not play out the way they were meant to. One could never be too careful.

He focused the remainder of his fading chakra into one hand and pressed it into the seat of his throne. A complicated seal briefly flared under his palm before fading into the wood, a barely distinguishable pattern all that remained of his hastily enacted back-up plan. That act took that last bit of life he had. As his last breath escaped in a shuddering groan, he felt the harsh tug of the jutsu pulling him from his aged body, and he knew no more.

**-Years Later-**

Sakura was having a really bad day. It had only been just over a week since Naruto had killed Kakuzu, Hidan had been buried in a thousand different pieces, and they had scored a major blow against the Akatsuki. She had only been able to rest for one day after getting back from that battle, before her Shishou had sent her out on a mission to a remote village that had urgently requested Konoha's help dealing with a contagious disease. It had been a long and grueling task with very little sleep involved, but she had developed a cure and healed all the sick.

Unfortunately, on her way back to her home, it had started raining, well... pouring cats and dogs would be a more accurate description. Sakura was shivering, soaked to the bone, and running low on chakra. She desperately needed some sort of shelter to wait out this storm. By sheer luck, she came across an opening to a cave. A quick scan with her senses told her that it was empty and therefore probably safe to go inside. So she did. That was the first mistake she made.

The tunnel leading from the entrance soon opened up into a large cavern. It was dry and dusty, clear signs that no one had been here in years. The one oddity that stumped her was the fairly big wooden chair at the back of the cave. As soon as she caught sight of it, she stilled, on high alert for any sign of danger. When it became apparent that yes there was just some random chair in this random cave, she relaxed, but only a little. There was a large patch of ground behind it that looked like something huge had once occupied that space.

Sakura cocked a curious eyebrow at the scene, baffled that she was even looking at such a thing, but given that it wasn't a threat to her life, she decided it was worth investigating. Plus the wooden seat looked wide enough for her to lie down on to rest up. She made her way across the cavern to the object of her interest. Who the hell would build a chair in this place? Some sort of bizarre Cave King... or something. Fuck it, she didn't really care anyways. She rubbed her arms, trying to warm up. Her clothes were still dripping wet. With a sigh, she plopped down into the seat. Sakura did not notice the small seal activate when she sat down. That was mistake number two.

A blinding pain seared through her and she screamed. It felt like her mind was tearing and shattering apart over and over. It was far worse than the agony she'd experienced the time Sasori had impaled her with a poisoned blade. She clutched at her head as her trembling body collapsed. She screamed again and curled up into a ball on the chair, trying hard not to break down into sobs. Was she dying...? A tiny thought in the back of her head whispered mockingly that death would be better than enduring this agony for another second... and then the pain was gone and she was standing in open blackness. Somehow she instinctively knew that she was inside her own mind. Sakura could not explain why she knew this, she just did. There was just one problem.

She was not alone. In front of her stood a man with long, spiky black hair with bangs covering the right side of his face. He could have been mid-twenties, early thirties at the latest, she figured. He was wearing red armor. It looked old and somehow familiar, like she had seen it before somewhere. His arms were crossed in front of him and he was giving her a critical look, as if he was judging her for everything that she was. As she processed all this, he huffed and rubbed the bridge of his nose with two fingers, a frown appearing on his face. Sakura didn't know what to make of this situation.

The man's arm fell back to his side and he glared at her with a dark eye. The hell was he giving her that look for?! This was her mind, and he shouldn't even be here! She held his gaze and glared right back. She bet he was responsible for this whole mess. The chair in the random cave, the pain, whatever the fuck was going on now... she knew it was his damn fault and she fully intended to beat the crap out of him. Her fists clenched and her mouth pulled into an angry sneer.

He cocked his head at her slightly, and the corner of his lips turned up just a tiny bit. Was he fucking mocking her?! She narrowed her eyes in response, a clear challenge. A single black eye closed for a second, and when it opened again, a cold rush of alarm and twinge of fear shot through Sakura. She tensed, the thought of beating him up morphing into one of self-defense, given the outcomes of her past experiences with this matter. She was now looking into a very familiar red and black pattern. An Uchiha...

"This isn't exactly what I had hoped for," the Uchiha said in a deep baritone voice, sounding somewhat exasperated, "But I suppose I'll have to make do with you."

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><p><strong>Next Chapter:<strong> Madara attempts a take-over. Sakura has other ideas.


	2. Clash

**A/N:** Thanks much for the reviews: Poppy Grave Dreams, argent-snow, and Liber Fatum! It's great to know you all like the story so far. Argent-snow, I don't really have anything specific I'm looking for in reviews, just mainly what you readers like about the chapters. I really love the feedback, even if it's short and sweet. It makes me want to write faster! So leaving a review is a good thing. Again, no beta reader and probably won't ever have one.

This story will mostly be written from Sakura's PoV, so you readers probably won't get too much insight into exactly what Madara is thinking. The allure of mystery and all.

_Sakura speaking to Madara in her mind._

**Madara speaking to Sakura in her mind.**

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><p><strong>-Clash-<strong>

The Uchiha came at her without a warning, flicking out of her vision in a split second. Sakura was only saved by her deep-seated instinct to duck. She felt the whoosh of air above her head as his attack missed her by mere inches. She caught the metal flash of a kunai from the corner of her eye. He was not messing around at all. He was aiming to kill her. She had a terrible feeling that dying in her mind would mean dying for real as well. Her frantic thoughts imagined herself with that smug arrogant Uchiha look on her face. Her body, his mind, and she was out of the picture for good... There was no way she could let that happen.

She imagined a kunai in her own hand and was pleased when one appeared. Spinning to counter his next blow, she met his strike head on and blocked it with her own weapon. Sakura attempted to get the upper hand, but in the flurry of clashes that followed, she was quickly forced on the extreme defensive. She wasn't shocked, considering he was an Uchiha, but still, this was clearly a life or death situation and she could not afford to lose. He threw his kunai at her, which she countered by throwing her own one to knock his away. Given this slight opening, she pushed chakra to her feet and leaped backwards, using the short break to focus her mind. To her satisfaction, her surroundings changed from an empty blackness into a rocky landscape.

The Uchiha didn't even blink at the shift in the battle stage. He followed after her with a fierce determination and a cold, hard look in his blazing Sharingan eyes, his black hair fanning out behind him like a dark cape. As he approached, Sakura smirked and punched downwards with a fist full of carefully controlled chakra. The ground exploded out in front of her, large chunks of rocks impeding that bastard's advance. He looked briefly surprised, but it didn't slow him down for long. With a speed she could barely follow, evidence of the difference in their experience, he navigated through the still falling debris and landed a harsh kick to her midsection.

Sakura yelped and curled into herself, trying to absorb the blow. She didn't even have time to catch her breath before she was pinned down by a strong hand on her throat. She gripped his wrist in reflex, trying to pry him off. The Uchiha wasn't having any of that and tightened his grip, choking her. She gasped for air and tried to kick out, but he twisted out of the way and slammed his knee down to control her legs. Her head started to swim and her lungs burned for air. In her semi-delirious state, she wondered why she needed to breathe in her own mind. That didn't make sense.

Just as she was beginning to accept that she might die right now and how much that really sucked because she wanted to live and punch this guy's fucking face in, the Uchiha was forcefully torn away from her. Sakura coughed and pushed herself up to see what the hell was going on. To her astonishment, that bastard was getting kicked around by her Inner self. She stared, wide-eyed, while her attacker twisted and danced around to avoid the rain of blows her Inner threw at him. He looked quite frustrated with the turn of events. She took a great deal of delight in that fact.

Her Inner was swearing at the Uchiha constantly, calling him names that would make even the most traveled person blush. Sakura watched with amusement as he was driven further and further away from her. She stood up slowly, rubbing her sore stomach, still sensitive from his earlier kick. Before she had time to gather her bearings, she heard her Inner shriek. She watched in horror as her defender vanished in a burst of black flames. The Uchiha came after her again and Sakura stumbled backwards, hastily getting into a guarded position. He closed the distance quickly, his face twisted into a harsh snarl, but right when he was about to engage her again, there was a bright flash of white and she was back in the cave on the wooden chair.

Sakura sat straight up in shock, looking wildly around, her senses overloaded with feeling freezing cold again, her clothes were still soaked, her chakra was still low, and the Uchiha was no where to be seen. The only sound in the empty cavern was her harsh panting. She rubbed her eyes, blinking a few times. Had that just been a dream? It had seemed so real... the feel of his hand clutching her throat, the intent to kill her...

'**Oh well, looks like I ran out of time**,' a frighteningly familiar voiced echoed in her mind. She froze, disbelief coursing through her body. There was no way... no fucking way. Oh please, please don't let this be happening. Sakura grit her teeth and buried her face in her hands. This was so bad, so very bad. A mocking laugh was the only reply to her distraught thoughts. '**That's right**,' the Uchiha said inside her head, '**You're stuck with me now**.'

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><p><strong>Next Chapter:<strong> Sakura tells Madara to get the hell out of her mind. Madara has other plans.


	3. Madara

**A/N:** Thanks for the reviews: Dolpher, catxangel, Liber Fatum, Poppy Grave Dreams, argent-snow and Shadowlove'scookies! To clear things up, Inner Sakura isn't gone forever, since she's just a manifestation of Sakura's inner thoughts. Madara only destroyed her temporarily, but she won't be appearing in the story again. I always found it super annoying when authors would write Inner heavily into their fics, so I will not be doing that. She served her purpose.

_Sakura speaking to Madara in her mind._

**Madara speaking to Sakura in her mind.**

* * *

><p><strong>-Madara-<strong>

"Get out," Sakura hissed, her voice the only sound in the large cavern, "Get out of my head right now!"

'**As much as I would love to do that**,' the Uchiha replied inside her mind, '**Unfortunately I can't. Believe me, I am not happy about being stuck inside a weak brat like you**.'

"Weak!?" She seethed, furious at him for daring to still be inside her head and having the nerve to insult her, then paused, the rest of his words finally sinking in with a increasing feeling of dread, "Wait, why can't you get out?"

He sighed, '**The jutsu I used to seal my soul into you only gave me a short window of opportunity to take over your body completely. It's just my luck that not only are you a pathetic weak little girl, but you have some sort of obnoxious split personality too. It delayed me just long enough to keep you alive**.' He paused for a moment and she could vaguely tell that he was quite annoyed, then he continued, '**The end result left us sharing one body. Due to the nature of the seal, I cannot get rid of you now without killing myself at the same time**.'

"My body, you mean," Sakura frowned, feeling very irritated with the situation herself.

'**Our body**,' he countered.

"No, MY body. You're just an unwanted parasite who lost to a girl," She taunted, feeling vindictive, "That's the cold, hard truth. You lost. You failed to take over my body and I'm still alive." He didn't bother to give her a reply other than an unamused snort.

Sakura rubbed her forehead and groaned, feeling a headache creeping up on her. This was just fantastic. She had an asshole of an Uchiha stuck inside her head, who moments ago had tried to murder her and steal her body, and now was insulting her with pretty much every other thing he said. She took a few deep, calming breaths. Now was not the time to panic. She was not weak, despite what Mr. Asshole said. There had to be a solution to this problem. First things first, though...

"Who are you?" she asked. Sakura knew she had seen him before somewhere but she could not put her finger on it at the moment. She was still cold, tired, and now getting hungry too.

He huffed and she could almost feel the disdainful glare he was probably sending her way. '**You are a Konoha shinobi and you don't recognize me? The standards at the academy must have slipped dramatically since I left the village**.'

"Are you going to tell me or not? I'm fine with calling you Mr. Asshole Uchiha, Traitor to the Village Hidden in the Leaves, but that title is kind of long and it'll get old fast," she drawled. She couldn't help mocking him. This guy really just pissed her off.

'**Show some respect, brat**,' he replied with a hint of anger. '**You are speaking to Madara Uchiha**.'

The name rang a bell, and not in a good way. "Fuck," she whispered to herself, as the lessons of the village's founding came back to her. It made sense now, why she had felt he looked familiar. Of course she had to be stuck with the most infamous Uchiha of them all. "You're supposed to be dead," she accused. How dare he still be alive, well... kind of alive.

Madara chuckled darkly inside her head, '**Looks like you're not as brain-dead as I assumed. I never truly died. My soul never left the living world, even if I didn't have a body for some time**.'

"You're insane," she stated. "What kind of nut-job seals himself into another person?!"

'**It was not my desire to be sealed into someone like you. I was hoping ideally for another Uchiha, but my jutsu was set to activate on the first person who discovered this cave and touched the seal. You just happened to stumble upon it. Quite unlucky, no?**' She didn't bother giving him an answer, too busy cursing her luck. Madara continued in a sarcastic tone, '**Besides, who are you to call me insane when you're the one talking to yourself?**'

It was a fairly juvenile comeback but Sakura blinked, realizing that yes she had been having a conversation with the bastard in her head and had been answering him out loud every time. She decided to test a hasty theory and thought at him, '_Fuck off_.'

Madara just laughed and called her a brat again.

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><p><strong>Next Chapter:<strong> Sakura heads back to Konoha. Madara invades her privacy.


	4. Threat

**A/N:** Thanks for the reviews: Poppy Grave Dreams, argent-snow, xxYou-shall-be-my-Squishyxx, BlackFireFalcon, miss-weena, and Suzululu4moe! I love the feedback everyone is giving me. Totally on a roll here, haha. I hope I continue to keep Madara in character. I hate reading stories where he's blatantly OoC. My Sakura might be a little bit snarky but it's fun that way! Argent-snow, that possible accident you mentioned is going to happen sometime in the future. Madara can be a real dick, you know?

_Sakura speaking to Madara in her mind._

**Madara speaking to Sakura in her mind.**

* * *

><p><strong>-Threat-<strong>

Sakura had taken a quick nap after her annoying conversation with the Uchiha. He hadn't bothered her about it. She assumed the whole 'trying to take over your body' ordeal left him worn out too. By the time she woke up and was ready to go, the rain had stopped and her clothes were dry. She took the time to stop at a small food stand on the way back and grabbed a bite to eat. Her chakra had restored enough to allow her to cut her travel time in half.

Madara was surprisingly silent on the journey back to Konoha. Sakura had no complaints about that, however, and she could pretend he wasn't even there. It was a lot to deal with, accepting the fact that she was sharing her body with a man and there was no telling how long she'd have to deal with him. So she pushed the matter aside and focused on getting back to the village.

Words could not describe her relief when she reached Konoha's gates. It seemed like ages since she had last been home. Sakura expected a sarcastic quip from Madara about her village, given that he was the biggest asshole she'd ever met, but he remained quiet. She decided against poking him about the irony of being back in Konoha. It was nice when he shut up.

She made her way to the Hokage tower to report in with her Shishou. With any luck, if Madara kept busy with whatever the hell he was doing in the back of her mind, maybe she could get a one up on him and tell the Hokage what had happened. She still had hope that there was some way that the Uchiha could be removed from her head.

She had no idea about the properties of the seal. Was he stuck inside her and could only annoy her with his thoughts? Or worse, could he take control of her body? He hadn't shown any sign of confirming either option. Nonetheless, it was a huge risk having someone who had tried to destroy the village sealed in her, and she had to let Tsunade-shishou know.

Sakura only had to wait a few minutes in the hall before she was called in to stand before a desk stacked with over-due papers and documents. Her Shishou had been slacking again. She was a bit worried when Madara showed a slight interest in what she was doing as she reported the accomplishment of her mission to Tsunade-shishou. She went through all the details of the village's disease and how she had cured it, making sure to really draw it out and be as thorough as possible.

As she had hoped, Madara seemed to be extremely bored with the whole thing and receded back into her mind. Sakura was dismissed to go home after her report, but she hesitated. This might be her one chance to let Tsunade-shishou know that she had the Madara Uchiha sealed inside her.

"Is there anything else you want to tell me, Sakura?" the Hokage asked, raising a curious eyebrow.

"Yes, Shishou, actually I really need to let you know that I found this cave on my way back and-" suddenly she was choked off and found herself paralyzed inside her own body with no control over her movements.

Madara tsked, '**I don't think so**.'

"Sakura?" Her Shishou prompted, "You found a cave and..?"

She watched in silent horror as her body smiled in mock innocence and her mouth opened to reply, "I found some herbs I have never seen before. They might be useful if we can identify them."

"Did you bring any samples back?" the older woman asked as she picked up a small stack of papers from the mountain of work that needed doing and began to casually flick through them.

It was a strange experience to feel her arm lift without her control and rub the back of her head awkwardly. "Er, no... I was really tired at the time and it was raining. I was more worried about not getting sick. I guess it slipped my mind..."

The Hokage her a flat look, clearly unamused and unimpressed. "Sloppy, Sakura. You know better than that." Even if it was just because of Madara's lie, her master's words still hurt. "Well, if that's everything, you're dismissed. Go get some sleep."

"Yes, Shishou," her body said. Madara walked her... their body out the door and towards the exit as the Hokage got back to work.

'_You're a real bastard! How dare you!?_' Sakura screamed at him, trying to wrestle control of her body back. He easily crushed her will with his own.

'**Be quiet**,' Madara ordered in a no-nonsense tone, '**You will not attempt that again. You will not let anyone know that I'm sealed inside of you, understood?**'

'_Fuck you!_' she shrieked, struggling in vain to turn around and go back to her Shishou and tell her everything that had really happened.

Madara stopped suddenly and she paused. '**Listen, little girl, look how easily I took control of this body. Think about how easy it would be for me to go up to anyone who trusts you and slit their throats. They wouldn't even have a chance to defend**.' Sakura reeled in a terrible mix of terror and dread. Her Uchiha-controlled body smirked at her reaction. '**Now, I'm willing to leave your friends alone if you keep our secret. Agreed?**'

'_Why..?_' She whispered, confused and scared and shaken. This was the worst possible outcome. She could not let him kill her friends. But why would he offer a deal to her?

'**I have no obligation to discuss my reasons with you**,' Madara answered, and continued walking her body through Konoha.

'_I want my body back_,' Sakura demanded after a moment, '_You have no right to take control. You are... you're violating me and it's wrong, so give it back!_'

Madara sighed inside her mind, '**I don't intend to take permanent control of this weak body. In fact, I don't intend to be stuck with you for longer than I have to be**.' Sakura felt a tiny blossom of hope at his admission. She imagined a future without the Uchiha inside her mind, a goal that they both apparently shared. '**Do you agree, brat?**'

'_Leave my friends alone and give me my body back and I promise I won't tell anyone about you_,' Sakura vowed.

'**I will share this body with you, however I will allow you to be in control most of the time. Your other terms are acceptable**,' Madara replied.

She wasn't happy about having to give him even a second of control, but she felt that she was getting the better end of the deal here. Sakura was insulted that he was arrogant enough to bargain control of her own body. Though given how easily he had shoved her to the side and taken over, there wouldn't be much she could do if he decided to take over completely.

She hated to admit it, but he was being considerably generous and she had her friends' lives to think about too. '_You promise to not destroy Konoha as well, and we have a deal_,' she said.

'**Fine**,' Madara huffed and ceded control back to her. She found herself standing in front of her apartment door. What the hell? When did she get here?

Baffled, she asked, '_How did you know where I live..?_'

'**Oh, that**,' Madara hummed, '**I was going through your memories earlier**.' He laughed, '**I thought it was bad now, but you were unbelievably pathetic and weak when you were younger. Disgusting**.'

Sakura punched a hole in her door.

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><p><strong>Next Chapter:<strong> Sakura realizes how awkward it is to share a body with a man. Madara is once again disgusted.


	5. Privacy

**A/N:** Thanks much for the reviews: Liber Fatum, BlackFireFalcon, argent-snow, and Poppy Grave Dreams! Fixed the typo as soon as you pointed it out, Liber Fatum. Thanks for that. As for when Madara was sealed in his throne, he'll tell Sakura sometime later, but he wasn't consciously aware of time passing. It was like a state of suspended animation. Rinne Tensei can bring people back from the state in between life and death (Kakashi), so Madara can still be brought back by it. Not that he will. He won't be happy about the whole Nagato thing, rofl.

Again, please do drop me a review if you like the story. It is truly good motivation for me to write faster!

_Sakura speaking to Madara in her mind._

**Madara speaking to Sakura in her mind.**

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><p><strong>-Privacy-<strong>

'_So_,' Sakura began angrily as she taped a piece of cardboard over the hole she'd punched through her door, '_What gives you the right to go through my memories? Hmm? Ever heard of respecting personal space and privacy?!_'

'**You do not tell Madara Uchiha what he can and cannot do, little girl**,' the asshole inside her head replied with an aggravating haughty tone.

She growled in fury, this man was impossible to deal with! It was going to be hell to live with him for however long she'd be stuck with him. Even if they'd made a deal and would put up with this situation, well... it was more like he blackmailed her, that bastard... she doubted they could ever be civil to each other. After locking the door, she stormed through her apartment, going through her routine preparations for sleep. Despite her nap in the cave earlier, she was starting to feel truly exhausted.

'_You know, since you INVADED my private memories, which I will never forgive you for, just so you know, I have every right to go through YOUR memories_,' Sakura declared.

Madara laughed, '**I don't think so**.'

'_I'm going to do it anyways_,' she decided, and focused inwards, willing the Uchiha's memories to appear before her.

'**Nice try, but the seal doesn't work like that. It's one-way only**,' his amused voice taunted in her mind.

How totally fucking unfair, but she wasn't really surprised. He was the king of dicks. '_I would like to state for the record that you are the most obnoxious bastard to have ever lived. You have no sense of decency, your head is shoved up your own ass so far you will never see daylight again, and if you were dying on the side of the road somewhere from dehydration, I wouldn't even spit on you. You're an insane psychopath and you should have just died for real long ago_,' Sakura informed him with the most serious tone she could muster up.

She got the vague impression of a raised eyebrow. It wasn't the first time she'd felt his emotions or, even stranger, his reactions. Must be a property of the seal. '**That's it? I've been called much worse in the past**,' he told her.

She humphed. No doubt that was true. He deserved all the verbal and physical abuse he got. Sakura ignored him and continued her nightly routine, but soon a growing problem stopped her in her tracks. While she could skip a shower, she really had to use the bathroom. She had to pee and she currently had a man sealed inside her. Fuck her life. Sakura groaned in misery and buried her face in her hands. She couldn't just not go. That wasn't an option.

'_Madara..._' she hesitated, but felt his attention return to her. He seemed curious that she had addressed him by his name instead of the usual asshole or bastard. So far, he tended to often sink into the back of her mind whenever they weren't talking. Probably to invade more of her memories since he was really such a gentleman. Though given how he had stopped her from telling her Shishou about him, there was no doubt he was always paying attention. She hated the fact that she was even in this awkward position in the first place, '_I need to use the bathroom. Can you... can you turn around or something?_'

As she predicted, a wave of mild disgust hit her. She did not foresee his reply, however. '**No**,' he said.

'_No?!_' Sakura shrieked in disbelief, '_No you can't, or no you won't?_!'

'**I won't**,' Madara drawled, unconcerned about her embarrassing situation. She knew from his answer that he most likely could give her some privacy, he was just being his usual dick self and making her life a torrent of suffering and misery.

'_Why the hell not?_' she asked desperately, '_Come on, please? This is weird enough already and I'd rather not make it worse_.'

'**You insulted me and now you ask me for a favor?**' the Uchiha countered, '**I don't care if you are upset about me watching you piss or not. I'm not granting your request.**'

Was he seriously doing this to her and holding what she said against her?! Sakura was beginning to have doubts about the level of his maturity. Or maybe his sanity was slipping with old age. She clenched her jaw and forced herself to not give into the temptation to swear colorfully at him and call him a pervert. That would not help her here. Right now she needed to calm down and take a blow to her pride.

'_Look, Madara, I'm really sorry for what I said_,' Sakura managed to grit out, hating the fact that was forced to stoop to this level, '_This whole sharing a body thing is really stressful and if we're going to be stuck together for a while, then I think it's a good idea to try to get along. I'll try to be more respectful and I would greatly appreciate if you'd give me this tiny bit of privacy when I need it. Please_.'

Madara hummed, considering her plea. She waited in shameful agony, still needing to pee really badly, fully aware that he was drawing it out just to torment her. Finally he said, '**Very well, but in exchange, you will have to do me a favor in the future. No questions asked**.'

Despite knowing deep down that a favor with no restrictions was a bad idea, Sakura accepted with a strained tone, '_Fine. Thank you. Now please turn around so I can go?_'

The feel of what she could only describe as a door slamming echoed in her mind. She closed her eyes, probing for his presence, and was delighted to find only an absence. Maybe he could be civil sometimes, if just barely? She could only hope so. She really didn't want to be making all the effort here. Seizing the chance, she rushed to the bathroom and took care of business, taking the time to slip on her pajamas as well. When she was done, Sakura hesitantly informed him, unsure if he could hear her from wherever he had retreated to inside her head.

He did. To her disappointment, she felt Madara emerge from the depths of her mind. He immediately dashed her hopes for possibly getting along with him without always insulting each other and making her want to beat the crap out of him with a snide remark, '**You're finally done? That took forever. Women really are vile and disgusting creatures. It's a shame you're not a man, though that would be even worse, now that I think about it. At least as a female you have an excuse for being weak**.'

Sakura bit her tongue hard enough to draw blood and refused to answer him with her own tirade. Instead, she pointedly ignored him, much to his amusement, and flung herself onto her bed. Words were cheap anyways, she thought bitterly. She would prove him wrong with her actions, even if he was an insufferable, sexist pig who never missed an opportunity to push her buttons. She punched her pillow a few times, imagining it to be Madara's smug face, before turning over, cursing her luck, and eventually drifting off into a dreamless sleep.

* * *

><p><strong>Next Chapter:<strong> Sakura decides to go to the library for a history review. Madara decides to take a detour along the way.


	6. Clan

**A/N:** Thanks for the reviews: BlackFireFalcon, Liber Fatum, and argent-snow! Madara will have his sexist streak for a while, but eventually Sakura will beat it out of him yes, if only just when it comes to her. It won't be for quite a few chapters though. They can only barely tolerate each other at this point lol. Madara enjoys pissing her off and taking his frustration about being stuck inside a girl out on her, and Sakura hates to take anything sitting down when she doesn't have to.

_Sakura speaking to Madara in her mind._

**Madara speaking to Sakura in her mind.**

* * *

><p><strong>-Clan-<strong>

The next morning, Sakura was pleased to find that Madara would grant her a moment of privacy whenever she needed to use the bathroom, take a shower, or change. Not that it gave him many bonus points in her book. He had been taking every chance to point out how inferior she was as a person and a shinobi. From the way she organized her room to the way she cleaned her weapons, nothing was good enough for him. It was incredibly irritating and it tested her patience to the limit. Luckily, a good night's sleep had done wonders for her.

She had resolved to try her best to make this whole experience as easy as possible even if her gesture wasn't reciprocated, but she already felt the cracks forming in her composure. She was proud that so far she'd only replied to him by telling him to shut up, though it was only a matter of time before she'd snap and give him a verbal lashing. She wished she could give him a good physical beating. He certainly deserved it.

Sakura was still very annoyed that Madara had access to her memories and she had nothing in exchange. The best she could do would be to review his past in the library. While she knew the general timeline of events, it would do no harm to re-read and ensure she hadn't missed any details. She didn't bother telling him about her plan. He would find out soon enough anyways.

Unfortunately, Madara apparently had a plan of his own. Halfway to the library, he suddenly hijacked her body and walked her in another direction. '_Oi!_' she objected, angry that he hadn't even given her a warning, '_What are you doing?_' He didn't answer her and when she realized where he was headed, she didn't press the matter.

After a few minutes, Sakura found herself standing at the entrance to the deserted Uchiha compound. She remained quiet, unsure if she should say anything or not. Madara broke the silence and asked, '**Brat, what happened here?'**

'_Why are you asking me? Didn't you go through my memories?_' she replied, conflicted about how she should handle this subject.

Madara sighed impatiently, '**I've barely had time to look at the most relevant ones. I haven't had a chance to go through any that don't pertain directly to you. Now, explain**.'

Well how fucking nice that he hadn't invaded ALL of her past. Yet. Still, Sakura was unsure how he'd react to the information he was asking for. '_They were massacred, all but one of them_,' she informed him in a careful tone. She couldn't tell if he was angry or not.

'**Hmm... then your teammate was that survivor. What was his name again? Sasuke?**' Sakura mentally flinched when he said that name. Ignoring her reaction, Madara continued, '**Who killed them all?**'

So he knew about Sasuke, if just his name, but didn't know his brother murdered their whole clan? However... she didn't really have a choice but to fill him in. It was preferable to tell him herself rather than have him dig through her memories for the answer. '_Itachi Uchiha, Sasuke's older brother_,' she told him.

'**An Uchiha did this?**' Madara asked in slight disbelief, **'Why?**'

'_He was insane, a psychopath, obsessed with power and willing to kill his whole family and torture his brother for it_,' Sakura replied, and at the risk of pissing him off, added, '_You two could relate_.'

He snorted but didn't take her bait. Sakura waited for him to say something. He seemed to be lost in his own thoughts. When she couldn't take the tension anymore, she asked, '_Well? Are you mad that your whole clan is dead?_'

'**No**,' he answered. She could tell he was being completely honest, which baffled her.

'_Why aren't you angry about it?_' Sakura asked. She really did want to know. It took him a moment to get back to her, but when he did, she was surprised by his reply.

'**They betrayed me, turned their backs on me after all I did for them. Why should I care if they all died?**' Madara scoffed. She felt a strange mix of annoyance and several other emotions she couldn't identify radiate across their link. '**It won't matter anyways**.'

'_It won't...?_' She prompted, curious to know what he meant by that. She had a feeling that she should be suspicious of his statement.

'**Hn**,' was all Madara said. A clear signal that their conversation was at an end. Typical Uchiha. Sakura sighed and nudged him for control of her body again. He sent her a mental glare, but relinquished command to her. With one last glance at the empty compound, she continued her journey to the library. A few minutes had passed when Madara interrupted the silence, '**Have you ever considered that there could be more to the story than what you know?**'

Sakura stopped and blinked, '_What?_'

She felt a mental facepalm and another annoyed sigh from Madara. '**Nevermind**,' he dismissed, giving her the cold shoulder. She huffed, frowning at his lack of manners. She tried to ignore it, but she was vaguely unsettled after their whole conversation.

* * *

><p><strong>Next Chapter:<strong> Sakura gets a history lesson from Madara.


	7. History

**A/N:** Thanks for the reviews: BlackFireFalcon, Liber Fatum, argent-snow, and Poppy Grave Dreams! You guys are the best! Madara doesn't know the truth about the massacre (yet), but he deeply suspects there's more to it than what it appears to be. He doesn't trust the Senjus at all lol. We'll find out later more about how he really feels about his clan's death. He still isn't mad that they all died, but there's deeper layers to it. And you're right, Liber Faturm, Madara will slowly open Sakura's eyes to the darker side of Konoha.

Work is cutting into my writing time. Need more 3-day weekends. Review if you like the chapter! Even a short word is nice.

_Sakura speaking to Madara in her mind._

**Madara speaking to Sakura in her mind.**

* * *

><p><strong>-History-<strong>

Sakura was hunched over a book reading the history of Konoha's founding. Madara had been amused when he found out what she was up to, a welcome change from the awkward and tense silence after their detour to the Uchiha compound. She really did not like the guy, and she believed him when he said he wasn't mad about the massacre, but she doubted even he could be totally unaffected by something like that. However, she did not pursue the matter.

She thought she was doing pretty well with her resolve to try to get along with him... so far. Even though it'd only been under half a day. Still! Sakura wasn't a weak little girl and she would show him that. She'd become much stronger since training under Tsunade-shishou and she was fully capable of reigning in her temper when she wanted to... if she wanted to.

She felt it was totally fair to get in a few well-deserved jibes especially after he threatened her friends, tried to kill her and take over her body, mocked and insulted her, and was in general an insufferable asshole. As much as Sakura wanted to beat him into the dirt, she was fully aware of the reality of her situation, stuck sharing a body with him, so she would try to refrain from seriously pissing him off. She knew Madara was fully capable of making her life a living hell. Stick to your resolve, she told herself. Eventually this would be over and things would go back to normal.

Shaking her head, she refocused on the book. Hashirama Senju, the first Hokage, had waged war against the Uchihas and been victorious. Beaten and forced into a corner, the Uchiha clan, led by Madara at the time, had surrendered and accepted Hashirama's proposal to join the two clans within one settlement. Although the Uchihas had previously rejected the idea of the village and peace between the warring clans, upon defeat Madara had pleaded with the Senju to reconsider. Hashirama, in a gesture of good will, ordered his clan to stand down and offered the hand of friendship to the Uchihas. The Senju leader was a major factor in the village's quick growth, using his mokuton to create the foundations of the actual buildings and pursing alliances with other clans. Soon Hashirama was named Hokage, leader of the village, a title he was happy to accept. After naming the settlement Konoha, the Senju leader focused his efforts on...

Sakura became aware of a deep laughter echoing in the depths of her mind. Fantastic, interrupting her when she was reading. '_What?!_' she snapped.

Madara's laughter died down into an amused chuckle. '**That's what they're teaching you? The victor really does write history**.'

Annoyed, she grumbled, '_Are you saying the book is wrong?_'

'**Very wrong**,' he drawled.

'_Oh then, since you're an expert at this, old man, please enlighten me as to what really happened_,' Sakura challenged, leaning back in her seat and eyeing the ceiling while she stretched out.

He humphed at her insult but answered her anyways, '**First of all, I was not the one to plead, as the book put it, for peace between my clan and the Senju. Hashirama begged me to create the village with him**.'

'_Really?_' she asked, a frown appearing on her face, half doubting his words. Was he lying to her, or was he telling the truth?

'**Yes**,' Madara affirmed, '**But do not interrupt me again. Hashirama was even willing to kill himself to bring our clans together**.' Sakura's eyes widened in surprise. '**I stopped him before he could**.' He paused for a moment before continuing, a hint of anger in his tone, '**He wanted me to lead Konoha, though he caved to political pressure, went back on his word, and accepted the position himself. Lastly, I was the one to name the village. Not him**.'

Sakura pondered this new information for a moment. Madara's version of events was significantly different from what the book said. Especially his claim about naming the village and Hashirama wanting him to be Hokage. '_Why would the book be incorrect? Why would Konoha lie about its own history?_' she asked.

Madara scoffed, clearly annoyed with her, '**Did you not hear me just now? The victor always writes history**.'

'_How do I know that you're the one telling the truth, and not what's written in this book?_' Sakura wondered, half asking him and half pondering the question herself.

'**You don't**,' he replied, '**But let me ask you this... why do you think I would lie to you about it?**' She crossed her arms and thought hard about it for a good few minutes. Other than just trying to mess with her head or being spiteful about the first Hokage, she couldn't come up with a good reason as to why he would.

'_Are you sure you're not just mad that Hashirama Senju beat you?_' Sakura asked him, half in jest, still trying to decide what to believe.

Madara's reaction was immediate. A fierce wave of anger and annoyance poured into her mind and she flinched at the sheer force of it. '**Do not say that name to me again, little girl**,' he almost hissed.

Despite being a little bit thrown off by the amount of hate he clearly had for the first Hokage, she really honestly could not resist the temptation to poke the bear, as the saying went. She knew she shouldn't do it, she knew it was a bad idea, a very bad idea... but she gave in.

With a cheshire cat grin slowly spreading across her face, she asked in a sing-song tone, '_What? Ha-shi-ra-maaa?_'

Icy silence as her taunt registered, then, '**You will regret your disrespect, you brat**,' Madara warned her in tone so cold it sent chills down her spine. She knew he wasn't making an idle threat either. Still, whatever he did, it would totally be worth it. Sakura now had an easy way to really get under his skin.

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><p><strong>Next Chapter:<strong> Madara makes good on his threat. Sakura still thinks it's worth it.


	8. Jailer

**A/N:** Thanks for the reviews: GoldenPiggy, Poppy Grave Dreams, argent-snow, Liber Fatum, and anon guest! Madara's not going to turn 'good' in this story, but Sakura will change his mind on something critical. No spoilers other than that. Liber Fatum, Madara's little revenge schemes will always be petty, childish, and spiteful lol. He can't do anything lethal or serious, since he's sharing a body, Sakura dying would mean he would die too (though he does still have Obito in play), and Sakura getting badly injured would be a major annoyance to him. So for now he amuses himself with silly games.

I'm going with Hashirama's flashback as canon, but Madara's perception of the event is kinda twisted, as you read. I'll be exploring the reasons why in later chapters. There are several factors as to why his view on it is warped. Madara is really biased yes, and I'll do my best to keep that in mind, especially when I get to the part where his past comes up again. Sakura will be a part of it, but again no spoilers other than she will find out what really happened eventually. I'll also be doing more with the pro-Konoha victor writing history thing later on, probably near the Pein arc (for obvious reasons).

As for the Edo Tensei casted by Kabuto, that will still happen. How will it affect Sakura? You'll just have to wait and see.

Review if you have a few seconds to drop me a line! This chapter ran on longer than I thought it would, but more for you guys to read. Also, the dark twist and shit getting real. Tell me if you like it. There will be more humor later of course, but reality bites now and then.

_Sakura speaking to Madara in her mind._

**Madara speaking to Sakura in her mind.**

* * *

><p><strong>-Jailer-<strong>

Madara made good on his threat when Sakura was making her way back to her apartment. It seemed to almost happen in slow motion. She heard her name being called by a familiar voice... Naruto. As she turned mid-stride to catch sight of him, she felt a sudden numbness in her foot. It twisted out at an odd angle and caught the ground. A pair of bright blue eyes stared in shock as she promptly face-planted into the dirt. A few heads turned to watch the spectacle. The seconds felt like eons while her face heated up in embarrassment. It suddenly clicked.

'_That?! That's your revenge?!_' she mentally asked Madara in astonishment, '_Making me trip? Really? How childish and immature can you get?_'

'**It will be worse if there's a next time**,' he told her, unbothered by her mild insults. '**Consider this a fair warning. You should appreciate my generosity, little girl. I-**'

'_I have a name, you know_,' Sakura interrupted.

Madara snorted, '**I really don't care**.'

'_You're a dick_,' she informed him honestly. He really was. A hypocrite too. Demanding respect and giving none in return. Seriously, Uchihas. If tripping her was his idea of solid revenge then she could deal with it. Totally worth her ace up the sleeve of mentioning the first Hokage's name. Maybe she should save that card for when she really needed it, though. Over-using it would lessen the effect. She was about to continue the mental banter with Mr. Asshole when she realized she was still face-down in the road.

A hand gently touched her shoulder, "Uh... Sakura? Are you alright?" Naruto asked. She turned her face to look up at him. He wasn't laughing or holding any sort of amusement back. He truly looked concerned. Such a good friend. She was a bit worried when she felt Madara's attention zero in on Naruto.

"Yeah I'm fine, Naruto. Just a little clumsy today!" she laughed awkwardly, and took his hand to help her up. Sakura brushed the dirt off her clothes. Still aware that she was getting curious looks from the nearby civilians, she grabbed Naruto's arm and pulled him with her, fleeing the scene of her embarrassment.

"Glad you're okay, Sakura!" Naruto chirped as he kept pace with her. She gave him a smile in return. "Got any plans for today?" he asked.

"No, nothing for today. I have a shift tomorrow at the hospital though," she replied. Four hours of healing injured shinobi while the Uchiha inevitably made mocking quips about her and her patients. She almost groaned at the thought of it. The pair slowed down into a walk, taking the empty back allies to keep away from the crowded streets.

"Great! Do you want to come to lunch with me and some others?" Naruto asked with a cheerful grin on his face. "Ino will be there, and she was going to ask Shikamaru and Choji. Kiba's coming, and Hinata and Neji too! It should be a lot of fun. We're supposed to meet at the place in half an hour, so we have time to find Bushy-brows and Tenten."

As Naruto rambled, she felt a shock of mild surprise from her head-mate and Madara hissed in her mind, '**The Kyuubi...**'

Sakura stiffened, suddenly very afraid for Naruto. The Uchiha had commanded the tailed beast in his epic battle with the first Hokage before it had been subdued. No way was she going to let Madara hurt Naruto or get his hands on the fox again. '_Remember the deal. Naruto is my friend_,' she warned the Uchiha.

He huffed, '**No need to remind me. I'm perfectly aware. Still... I did not expect the Kyuubi to still be sealed inside a Jinchuuriki...**' Madara trailed off into a mutter to himself, his tone annoyed, '**What has he been doing all this time..?**'

'_Naruto_.' Sakura corrected him, at the same time filing away his reference to a mysterious man for further investigation later. Did he have a living partner? That was seriously worrying.

'**...What?**' Madara's attention snapped back to her.

'_His name is Naruto. Not Jinchuuriki. Not vessel. Not Kyuubi_,' she stated.

He was silent for a few seconds, and before she could try to mentally probe for his reaction, he said, '**Again, I really don't care**.'

Sakura fumed, offended on behalf of her best friend. '_Listen here, Uchiha, Naruto is one of the strongest people I've ever met. He's kind, compassionate, and always puts others before himself. He deserves respect. He's suffered enough because of that fox and if you think I'll let you-_'

'**Enough**,' Madara interrupted her in a sharp tone. She could feel his strong annoyance and exasperation with her ranting. '**I've been through your memories of him. I do not need a lecture**.'

Clenching her jaw in rage, Sakura was about to let him have it when Naruto interrupted her, "Uh... Sakura...?"

She blinked and found herself staring into worried and somewhat frightened blue eyes. Realizing that her face had twisted into a murderous scowl, Sakura took a step back and forced her features to relax. How long had she been standing still talking to that bastard inside her mind? Fuck.

Suddenly having lunch with her friends didn't seem like a good idea. In fact, being around any of her friends at all didn't seem like a good idea. With how easily she lost track of reality dealing with Madara and his ability to take control of her body whenever he wanted, not to mention his apparent delight in making her miserable, there was no telling what crap he would put her through.

They had made a deal that he wouldn't harm her friends, but he could easily fuck up her relationships with them and ruin her social standing with well-timed embarrassments. In a thought she immediately felt guilty for even having, she compared her situation with how Naruto must have felt in the past, ostracized with the Kyuubi sealed inside him. Only his isolation wasn't by choice. Hers would be. She would be Madara Uchiha's jailer, like Naruto was for the fox, the difference being the lack of bars separating her from her prisoner. She felt terrible for even comparing herself to her friend, but she couldn't help the wave of self-pity and bizarre sense of duty that she must do this to protect Konoha.

The sheer seriousness of her predicament suddenly hit her like a bucket of ice water and she felt stupid for not realizing the severity of it before, having only been concerned about her own life. Sakura pictured herself standing alone, away from her friends, her teachers, her mentor... the sole person keeping Madara from destroying the village. Sure he wouldn't try to attack her home while he was still sealed inside of her, but what about when he got out? He had said he didn't intend to be stuck inside of her for longer than he had to... so he had some plan to break the seal and leave her body. Would the process kill her? She felt terrified. In the past when he was still alive he had come after Konoha. The first Hokage had been the only one to fend him off and he was dead now. She had no doubt Madara would attack the village again as soon as he was free of her. He would go after Naruto for the fox too...

She couldn't let that happen. While Sakura absolutely hated the thought of being stuck with the Uchiha for the rest of her life, she was a strong shinobi. She could made the sacrifice for her village. She could deal with whatever pain and suffering Madara put her through. He was bound to not be happy with her decision, but she could make sure he never left her body. She would not be selfish and allow him to escape the seal. No matter what. For Naruto, she told herself. For Konoha. Even if it cost her her life...

She felt overwhelmed with how fast everything was happening. From being furious about having the Uchiha sealed inside her, to being determined to be free of him, resolving to try to get along with him somewhat while she was stuck with him, then impulsively engaging in childish one-up insults with him, to finally deciding to be his jailer to protect her friends and village... her head swam with it all. So many emotions and threats and realizations. It had only been about two days... two very short days. She could barely keep up with everything.

Naruto looked more worried now, and Sakura wondered how long she'd been standing there lost in her thoughts. Without betraying her emotions, she said, "Sorry Naruto... I'm not really feeling up to it. Another time?"

He looked disappointed, but waved it off, "Sure! No problem, Sakura. I hope you feel better. See you later!"

With a level of sadness she'd only felt a few times ever before, she watched Naruto form the seals for the kage bunshin. He and his two clones jumped off in different directions in search of their friends, intending to finish the invites for lunch, leaving her alone, fists clenched.

'**Well well, looks like you're not as stupid as I thought you were**,' Madara's darkly amused voice echoed in her head. '**Before you ask, yes, I was reading your thoughts**.'

Sakura grit her teeth, '_I'll kill myself before I let you out of my body. That would kill you too, right? Since your soul is sealed inside of me_.'

He just laughed, '**Yes it would**,' the Uchiha confirmed, much to her relief that she did have a fail-safe option, assuming she could pull it off without his interference, '**I've mentioned that before. You don't have that great of a memory, do you?**' Madara chuckled again, '**But you don't have to worry about Konoha. While I would enjoy seeing this village razed to the ground, I have more important things to do once I'm free of you**.'

'_Oh? Like what? And what about Naruto? And how would you even leave my body?_' Sakura pried, desperate for more information, and half freaked out that he was already aware of her decision. She was shaken up from her thoughts just now, and was extremely worried that he didn't seem to be even remotely concerned that she was threatening to kill them both. Apparently death didn't phase him at all. That... or he had his own fail-safe, which was an even worse thought.

'**Hmm... I'm not willing to part with that information for free**,' Madara taunted, still very amused and clearly enjoying the mental game.

'_You have a price then?_' Sakura took the bait.

'**Go home. I want to test out an idea**,' the Uchiha commanded her, '**Your Jinchuuriki friend inspired me**.'

'_His name is Naruto_,' Sakura corrected once again, '_And if I do this, you'll answer my questions?_' she asked, hesitant to give in to his demand. Not that it would matter. He could just take control and walk them both home himself.

'**One for one**,' Madara replied, '**If my idea is successful, then I'll tell you one thing you want to know**.'

Sakura narrowed her eyes. She did not trust him to keep his word, but it was a chance to gain more information from him. Knowledge was power, and anything she could possibly get from him would benefit her in the long run. She was also sort of glad that the conversation had been directed away from her decision to keep him sealed inside her. The less he thought about it, the better.

'_Okay_,' she agreed, despite her better judgement, and took them both back to her apartment.

* * *

><p><strong>Next Chapter:<strong> Madara finds a loophole in the seal. Sakura is presented with a difficult question.


	9. Loophole

**A/N:** Thanks for the reviews: Poppy Grave Dreams, ya-cho, GoldenPiggy, The Imperfect Me, argent-snow, Of Healing Love, Murithemagnificant, and Musical cake. Glad you new reviewers are liking the story! I'm doing my best to keep both Madara and Sakura in character, though I am not nearly as obsessed with Sakura's character as I am Madara's, lol. Trying to stick to her core personality traits and just roll with it. I do spend a good chunk of time thinking over the story in my head and how exactly the two should be reacting to situations based on their canon characters, especially for early on in the plot. Like literally every time I type a line for Madara, I ask myself if I can picture him saying it. Since I write from Sakura's pov, it's critical I think a lot about Madara's personality, knowledge of current events, mood, and goals too. His actions might not make sense to Sakura sometimes, but he does have a reason for every action he takes or thing he says (mostly, sometime's he's just being petty and spiteful rofl).

This was a hard chapter to write. Took longer than expected. Let me know what you think of Madara's loophole in the seal.

_Sakura speaking to Madara in her mind._

**Madara speaking to Sakura in her mind.**

* * *

><p><strong>-Loophole-<strong>

'_Alright, we're here_,' Sakura told Madara as she closed her apartment door behind her, walking into her living room. '_Now what do you want to do?_'

The Uchiha immediately took control of her body, ignored her protest, and formed the seal for a kage bunshin. A Sakura clone popped into existence a few feet away. She was about to question Madara what the hell he was doing when she felt a terrible strain tearing at her body and mind, like she was being ripped in half. She would have collapsed to her knees if she had been in control of her own body, but instead all she could do was scream inside her own head.

'_Stop!_' Sakura cried out, the pain becoming unbearable. It was far worse than the one time she had been pierced by Sasori's poisoned blade. It felt like someone was trying to rip her insides out and putting her through what she imagined Tsukuyomi must feel like at the same time. '_You're killing me! Stop it!_'

Madara ignored her plea and with one final blinding tear, a flash of white pain behind her eyes, it was over. She collapsed on the floor, panting. The pain was quickly fading, but her whole body ached. Sakura doubled over, grabbing her head with both her hands as she tried to gather her bearings. What had that bastard done?! After taking a few deep breaths, she focused inward to really let him have it when she noticed it.

He was gone. She couldn't feel his presence. He wasn't inside her head.

She immediately panicked. Fucking hell, he was gone and it was her fault and everyone and everything she loved was in danger because she had failed and let Madara out. Sakura staggered to her feet, mind racing and unsure how she should proceed, but she had to do something, anything. She looked over at her clone and realized exactly where Madara had gone. There was no way she could ever fake that smug Uchiha look.

It suddenly clicked. The tearing sensation, the pain, his mention of Naruto inspiring him. He had somehow left her own body to enter her clone. She watched, dumbfounded, as he stretched his... her? arms and shoulders, looking very pleased with his success.

"How... how did you do it?" Sakura asked, catching his attention. It was odd, looking into her own eyes but seeing someone else there. She suddenly remembered her anger. "You could have at least given me some warning!" she yelled, "That fucking hurt, you bastard!" She winced and cut her scolding short as a sharp pain flared through her body.

Madara didn't answer right away. He formed the hand signs for the henge jutsu and with a puff of smoke, the form of her clone was replaced by his own body. He was wearing the same solid black underclothes she had first met him in, back when they had battled inside her mind, but missing the classic red armor. He lazily collapsed on the couch behind him, stretching out and looking like he owned it. Fucking smug Uchiha.

Sakura remained standing, on guard and avoiding looking at his eyes. Madara noticed this and chuckled, "Little girl, this is a transformation of your clone. Sharingan is a kekkai genkai." He was looking at her like she was an idiot.

Oh... that's right. She ducked her head to hide an embarrassed blush, and almost facepalmed with how obvious it was. The henge jutsu was a low level technique. It couldn't copy or mimic bloodline limits. She was not an Uchiha, and Madara was technically using her body, so no Sharingan. Still, she couldn't let her defense down around him, not even for one second.

Refocused, Sakura pointed at him and said with a firm tone, "You owe me answers. Your idea worked, so talk."

If Madara was annoyed at her attitude, he didn't let it show. He crossed his arms and replied, "To answer your first question, the seal I used to transfer my soul into you is my own design. I fully understand the limits and how to exploit them. Using a clone for a body is merely a loophole and a good way to temporarily alleviate the annoyance of being sealed inside a weakling. Unfortunately, in the end I'm still stuck inside the real you."

Sakura was more relieved to hear that than she was pissed off at the insults. So he hadn't truly escaped and she was still his host body. She was still fairly angry that he had put her through that intense pain with no warning, however. "That really did hurt, you know," she scowled at him. He raised a mocking eyebrow, clearly uncaring. She bet the process hadn't even affected him at all.

She lifted her hands and placed them in the position that would end the clone technique. Madara noticed this and glared at her, tensing. "Don't even think about it," he warned, "I'll just force you to go through all that again." Sakura didn't back down, but didn't release the jutsu either, leaving the threat open ended. While she definitely did not want to experience the tearing pain again, she needed answers.

"Now," she began, "You promised to tell me about your plans. Why go through all the trouble to set up a way for you to be resurrected? How would you free yourself from my body? What do you plan to do with Naruto?"

Madara held up a hand, silencing her. "Quiet. I said I'd answer one question, brat. Be grateful that I'm even keeping my word."

Sakura clenched her teeth and growled in the back of her throat, "Fine. Talk." Another shiver of pain ran through her aching body. She felt strained in a weird sort of way. She would accept one answer from him now. She would get the others later, she promised herself.

He closed his eyes for a moment, his expression pensive. When she was about to open her mouth and demand he get on with it already, Madara straightened up and looked at her again. He finally said, "In order to answer you, I need to go over a few concepts first. Pay attention and think," he stressed the last word. She nodded, unsure where he was going with this.

"This world is full of things that don't go the way you want. As you live longer, you realize that reality is just made of pain, suffering, and emptiness. Where there is light, there are also shadows. As long as the concept of winners exists, there will also be losers. The selfish desire of wanting to maintain the peace causes wars, and hatred is born to protect love." Madara spoke as though he truly believed every word he was saying. It might have been the longest she'd ever heard him talk. "They are casual relationships that can't be avoided... normally."

Sakura took a few minutes to mull over his words, trying to ignore the ever increasing headache she had. Madara watched her carefully but did not say anything more, giving her the silence she needed to think. What he said... made sense... mostly. She couldn't find any fault with his logic, although she did disagree with the what he defined reality as and that bit about peace, wars, hatred, and love. Instead of voicing her dissent, she focused on the last statement, which he had obviously intended to draw her attention to, humored him and asked, "You said those relationships can't be avoided normally. Do you mean you found a way to do it... to separate the positive from the negative?"

Madara inclined his head, "I have." He had a mildly pleased look in his dark eyes. She briefly wondered if he had expected her to not understand his ideas. It said a lot about how he viewed her, she thought with a twinge of irritation.

Shaking her head and getting back on track, with a slight frown, Sakura objected, "That's impossible, though. To use one of your examples, if there was a competition between two people, one would always be the winner and one would always be the loser. Excluding a tie, there isn't a situation where both would be winners. By your logic, that'd be defying reality." The Uchiha smirked knowingly, as if she had just told him a joke. She paused for a few seconds, unsure of what to make of his expression, confused as hell, and hating how the weird ache inside her was growing worse. "How would you do it, then?" she asked, half believing that he was just fucking around with her. Although, the look on his face when he was talking about it, he had been completely serious...

"That counts as another question. For now, it will remain my secret," Madara told her, intending to end the conversation. His body language and tone were dismissive.

She suppressed an annoyed growl and the urge to punch him in the face. "You didn't even really answer the first one!"

The Uchiha sighed, annoyed, "I did. If you're unable to truly comprehend what I said, that's your problem."

Sakura sputtered at the insult, finally losing her temper after everything that had happened during this stressful day, on top of feeling like utter crap, "What?! I asked you what your plans were, you told me you'd give me an answer, and instead you gave me a speech about peace and war, love and hate, light and shadows and how you would split them all apart, which isn't possible by the way, no matter what you say. How is that an answer?! It makes no sense!"

Madara still looked a bit irritated with her, but her ranting seemed to amuse him. "It doesn't have to make sense, I'll be defying reality," he mocked, quoting her words from earlier. She was about to continue her tirade when he stood up suddenly, shocking her into silence. She immediately tensed, not trusting him in the slightest. He looked down at her, "I could tell you understood me when I explained the base ideas. Keeping them in mind, how would you go about ridding the world of all the suffering, the hate, the wars? How would you eliminate the concept of losers, so that everyone would be winners?"

His dark eyes demanded an answer. Sakura wavered, her mind foggy and headache pulsing, unable to seriously think. She fought back another wave of pain and searched her brain, very quickly coming up with nothing. She could not think of a realistic solution to the question. "I don't know," she admitted. Much to her displeasure, he only looked smug at her inability to give him a real answer. She was feeling dizzy now, and while she did mostly understand what Madara was talking about, it conflicted with the evil villain image she had painted him with. On a whim, she grit out in a mocking tone, "So your goal is world peace?"

He shrugged, "Essentially, yes." Sakura stared at him in disbelief. He was going to get rid of everything bad in the world, and then there would only be rainbows and sunshine and happiness? Really? Seriously? While he did make some good points about there being a yin for every yang, he must be either messing with her head when he said he would defy reality and tear the opposing concepts apart, or senile. Sakura decided on the latter. She opened her mouth to tell him that when her body gave out on her, the strain becoming overwhelming, and she collapsed on the floor.

Madara looked surprised but of course being the perfect gentleman he was, made no move to catch her as she fell. Before darkness overtook her, she flipped him off.

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><p><strong>Next Chapter:<strong> Sakura is upset about the loophole's side effect. Madara is annoyed that she has to go to work.


	10. Routine

**A/N:** Thanks for the reviews: Musical cake, argent-snow, The Imperfect Me, Gal Can't Help It, Isolationism, and luchi. Glad you all liked the last chapter. Indeed, while using a Sakura clone, Madara has no access to his own chakra and has to use hers. He is well aware he can't go out in public without fucking himself over, but I do have an idea for having some fun with that later. Also lmfao that new episode where the kid was scared of Madara's face, I'm going to have to reference that at some point bahaha.

This chapter isn't as long as the previous two, and is kind of a filler one, but it's necessary to establish some base facts and things in general. Getting closer to where I can start developing their relationship and advancing the plot, and throwing them into humorous situations. I think I can also start getting chapters out more than once a week now/soon, so yay for that.

_Sakura speaking to Madara in her mind._

**Madara speaking to Sakura in her mind.**

* * *

><p><strong>-Routine-<strong>

Sakura woke up feeling like she had been run over. She took a moment to gather her bearings and realized she was lying in an uncomfortable heap on her bed. Morning light was streaming in through her window. With a groan, she pushed herself up and rubbed her eyes, slowly beginning to recall the events that had led her to passing out.

'**Finally**,' Madara's annoyed voice snapped her to awareness, '**You take an unacceptably long time to recover.**'

'_What happened?_' she demanded, already focusing her chakra internally to make sure there was nothing seriously wrong with her body. Everything checked out, she was okay. But that didn't explain why she had collapsed. '_What did you do to me?_'

A sigh echoed inside her mind, and a still frustrated Madara replied, '**It seems that forcibly separating my soul from your body, even temporarily, puts a strain on you. The longer I remain in your clone, the stronger it becomes.**'

Now quite alarmed and worried about possible damage to her own soul and chakra and who knows what else was at risk, Sakura replied, '_We're not doing that again. No fucking way._'

Ignoring her, Madara continued, '**The length of time we can remain apart can probably be increased with practice.**'

'_That's nice_,' she grit out, '_But we're not going to do that again._' Not only was she upset and slightly freaked out about having collapsed due to some soul shit, she still wanted to keep an extremely close eye on Madara. She was determined to be his jailer, and having him outside his cage, despite it not being much of a cage at all, was not something she desired.

'**Yes we are**,' he replied, and she could almost feel the glare, '**While I may be stuck inside such a weak, female body for now, any relief from that is not something I will turn down.**'

She almost snapped at the insult, but caught herself. Sakura could just release the clone jutsu whenever he inevitably forced her to do it, but all that would do is piss him off and waste her chakra and time. No, even though she wasn't happy about it, maybe it was better to just go along with him this time. She could still keep an eye on him, plus there was the benefit of having some actual privacy inside her mind. It wasn't like he could leave her apartment and wander around Konoha. '_Okay, fine_,' Sakura grumbled, her tone dripping with resentment. She was in no way looking forward to going through that pain again.

'**Giving in so easily?**' Madara taunted, but she forced herself to not take the bait and kept quiet, '**Good. Let's begin.**' She was mentally preparing herself to endure the process of the split again when it struck her, she had work today. Fuck. She glanced at the clock and saw she only had twenty minutes before she had to be at the hospital. No time for a shower or a change of clothes, damn.

'_Wait. I have to do my shift_,' Sakura informed him, standing up and briefly checking herself over to ensure she was somewhat presentable.

'**Skip it**,' Madara commanded, pushing her aside in their shared mind and taking control of her body, stopping her from leaving to go to work.

Annoyed, Sakura protested, '_I need money. You know, for food and rent, so I can live. You've been sort of dead for a while so you might have forgotten that._'

She felt her face twist into a slight frown, a reflection of Madara's reaction. She said nothing while he mulled it over. Sakura knew she had the upper hand. It would cause suspicion if she started not showing up for work. The seconds were ticking by, eating into the time left she had before she would be late. Finally he said, '**Fine, but as soon as you're done, we're coming right back here to practice.**' With that, he gave her control again.

Sakura hurried out the door, immediately heading towards the hospital. She fed chakra into her feet to increase her speed. She could still make it on time. As she was making her way through Konoha, a stray thought hit her, and she almost facepalmed that she hadn't realized it sooner.

'_Did you move me from the floor to my bed?_' She asked, very slightly amused at the mental image of it, given her experiences with Madara so far. She had woken up in a weird position, so he probably had just dumped her there and released the clone jutsu.

'**Hn**,' came the typical Uchiha reply, the kind where they didn't want to give an actual answer. Sakura smirked to herself and didn't press the topic. It was a funny thought, but she still really did not like him and it didn't do anything to improve her opinion of him. She knew he didn't carry her to her bed out of kindness. They shared a body. He probably didn't want to deal with a sore neck from lying on the floor either.

As she expected, she had to deal with annoying quips from Madara the entire time while she was working. Why bother healing this person? They were weak. That person only had a minor cut, back in his time that sort of wound was nothing. Stop wasting her chakra. How did that guy even become a shinobi? So pathetic. On and on it went. Sakura was a bit worried that she might have scared some patients with the look on her face as her irritation with the Uchiha grew. The second her shift was over, with the threat of forcibly taking control again, Madara ordered her back to her apartment.

The pain was maybe slightly less the second time he took advantage of the loophole and possessed her clone, but it still hurt enough to bring her to her knees. Madara was right though, the length of time she could bear with it was longer than before, ten minutes more before she couldn't take it anymore. He released the clone jutsu when she reached her breaking point, thankfully. Sakura dragged herself to her bed and passed out almost immediately afterwards.

The next couple of weeks passed like that. Work in the morning if she had a shift, then back home to practice the loophole. Two practices a day if she didn't have work. It was amazing how quickly she progressed. She now didn't feel the strain for a good five hours and the pain from the split itself was considerably less. While Madara was using her clone, they were both content with ignoring each other for the most part outside of petty insults. Sakura never left her apartment during this time, adamant about keeping an eye on him. He had made her pick up newspapers, historical books, and a few fictional war novels for him, which kept him occupied. She had bitched about him spending her money, but it happened regardless. They soon settled into a weird sort of routine.

She was baffled and suspicious that he hadn't made any sort of move to indicate he was plotting anything or making preparations to escape her body for good. Sakura had attempted a few times to question him about that, and also tried to bring up the whole world peace yin-yang thing again, but he brushed her off and refused to talk more about it, so she dropped it for now. She would bring it up again later and get the answers she was determined to have. Madara did appear annoyed at her obsessive watch over him at times, throwing glares her way now and then, especially if she happened to be behind him. She of course took note of that and purposefully stood behind him sometimes, never too close, but it still aggravated him, much to her entertainment.

Sakura had intended to avoid her friends for now, given her situation, but it was becoming apparent that she couldn't do it for much longer. Naruto and Ino had ambushed her a few times on the way home from work. She had given bullshit excuses to get out of lunch and dinner dates and she wasn't sure how much longer they'd buy it. She did want a social life again, even if it was a selfish desire. The only time she was outside of her apartment these days was when she went to the hospital. She did not want Madara anywhere near her friends, though, especially Naruto. The only time she could hang out with them is when he was using her clone for a body, but then that left him alone in her apartment. She could leave another clone to watch him, but it wouldn't be much of a guard.

Sakura was somewhat at a loss of what to do about the situation when, much to her surprise and displeasure, Madara came up with his own solution.

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><p><strong>Next Chapter:<strong> Sakura gets a social life again. Madara ensures her silence about his existence.


	11. Silence

**A/N:** Thanks for the reviews: Of Healing Love, GoldenPiggy, anon guest, Poppy Grave Dreams, argent-snow, Musical cake, and SuperNaz. Sorry Of Healing Love, I've been writing more than I thought I would be anyways. The past few chapters have been well over 1,000 words, a couple of them even 2k. If I try to write longer chapters, I know I'll burn out or it'll become a chore instead of being fun. I have one unfinished story under a different name for that reason (been over half a year and I just can't bring myself to write the last chapter). I haven't had much time to write this week unfortunately. Real life got in the way. I'm really happy you love the story so much, though!

Sakura doesn't receive memories from the Madara possessed clones. The technique gets corrupted when he transfers his soul. Argent-snow, it's episode 369 if you just want to watch that one. It was a filler scene, not in the manga. Madara has a canon thing about not liking people standing behind him lol.

_Sakura speaking to Madara in her mind._

**Madara speaking to Sakura in her mind.**

* * *

><p><strong>-Silence-<strong>

Madara slammed his book shut with an annoyed sigh, turning to glare at Sakura from where he sat lazily on her couch. "Stop that," he demanded.

She was leaning against the kitchen counter. It had been just about an hour since he had started reading after possessing her clone. A new record. Usually it took longer for him to snap. Raising an eyebrow at his command, she asked, "Stop what, exactly?" Of course, she knew exactly what she was doing, but it was fun to play dumb about it.

"You're always staring at me. Don't you have any manners, brat? It's rude, what you're doing," he complained, crossing his arms in irritation. He was dressed in his usual solid black outfit. He was like a big black stain on her couch. It was a good thing he wasn't in her head at the moment. He wouldn't have liked that last thought.

She smiled innocently, "Just keeping an eye on you, that's all. Wouldn't want you running off and destroying the village, killing my friends, or anything."

He pinched the bridge of his nose and sighed again, "Listen, the only reason I'm even telling you this is because you've become more annoying than I ever thought possible, and I want to be able to read without you constantly watching me the whole time." Putting his book aside, he stood up and walked over to her. She straightened defensively, meeting his dark gaze head on. It was pretty damn intimidating to have Madara glaring down at her like that, not that she'd ever admit it to him. He continued, "I have no immediate plans to break the seal and leave your body, yet. The timing is not right."

Sakura blinked, "What do you mean the timing isn't right?" She wasn't sure if she should believe him or not. While it would be fantastic if that was true, if he had no intentions of trying to escape from the seal for now, he could be lying to get her to let her guard down. He knew all about her decision to be his jailer.

He gave her a look that indicated he clearly doubted her intelligence. "It means just that. The current... situation, from what I've been able to gather, is not ideal for my return."

Feeling a possible lead to more information, she tilted her head to the side in curiosity and pressed on, "Current situation?" She already suspected he had an outside agent working on his behalf, but although she had spent countless hours musing about it, she was still no closer to figuring it out. She had a bad feeling it involved the Kyuubi though, and therefore Naruto.

Madara smirked at her attempt to fish for answers and taunted, "I don't think so." When she looked disappointed, he chuckled and said, "Rest assured, though. You'll know when I intend to leave."

"I'm supposed to just take your word for that?" Sakura asked, frowning. No matter what she did, he always saw through her act. It was fucking impossible to fool or trick him.

"Yes," the Uchiha replied, "Have I made any sort of effort or action that would lead you to think that I am working on breaking the seal?"

Sakura's frown deepened, "No." He really hadn't. All he'd done is read books and meditate. It had been driving her crazy, wondering what his game was, but maybe he really was telling the truth and would not try to escape for now. Still, that was no reason for her to relax.

As she was thinking about it, Madara suddenly gripped her jaw and with a harsh press of his fingers, forced her mouth open. Wide-eyed, Sakura immediately struggled and tried to pry him off, but he intercepted and grabbed both of her arms with his free hand. He jammed his thumb into her mouth and then there was an intense burn on her tongue. She bit back a scream and twisted her body. He let her go, removing his hand and wiping his thumb on her clothes before she retreated to a safe distance.

"What the hell?!" she shrieked, glaring at him furiously. She grabbed the nearby kettle and held it up to her face, opening her mouth to inspect her tongue in the reflection. It looked okay... there was no mark she could see. She growled, "What did you do to me?"

Madara smirked, looking extremely pleased with himself, "I simply made it so that you cannot speak about me or anything related to me to anyone else. It's quite a useful little seal. If you try to defy it, you'll choke up and experience some pain."

Sakura raged, "You... you put ANOTHER seal on me?!" She punctuated her complaint by throwing the kettle at him. He leaned to the side and dodged it with ease. It sailed past him to hit the wall, leaving a dent before clattering to the floor. She was furious.

"Was that really necessary?" He drawled in amusement, "You should be glad that it's as invisible as your other seal. Now, get out."

She paused, halfway through reaching for another kitchen appliance to throw at him. She stuttered, "What... excuse me?!"

Madara stalked over to her and grabbed her forcefully by the wrist, ignoring her protests and blocking her wild punches as he dragged her to the door, opening it with a jerk of his hand. "I'm sick of you. We both need time alone, so you will be leaving. Go see your friends," he said, the last word becoming a sneer.

Sakura braced her feet and grabbed the doorway, resisting being pushed outside. "Like hell I'm leaving you alone in my home!" she snarled.

He sighed, aggravated, "You have nothing to worry about. I'm not going to wreck the place, I'm not going to leave the apartment, I'm not plotting anything, I'm just going to read in peace and quiet without you around to annoy me." With that, he literally kicked her out and slammed the door in her face. She heard the lock click.

For a few moments, she stood still, staring blankly at the door and rubbing her side soothingly to ease the pain from his blow. Sakura was still really angry, but not enough to cause a scene by banging on her own door, and she really did not want to break it down and have to fix it later.

For the first time in her life, she had been kicked out of her own apartment. She would have laughed at the situation if she wasn't so pissed off at Madara. Sakura formed a seal and two clones popped into existence. She directed them to conceal themselves and keep watch over the door and the windows on the opposite side, just to make sure that bastard did not leave her apartment.

Throwing one last glare in what she thought Madara's general direction was, she turned on her heel and stormed away, figuring she might as well take his suggestion and visit her friends. She really did miss them and could spend a good few hours with them before she had to head back to avoid the strain of being split from the Uchiha for too long.

Sakura was going to punch his smug face when she got back, she promised herself. But for now, she had catching up to do.

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><p><strong>Next Chapter:<strong> Sakura has an odd dream. Madara is hungry.


	12. Dream

**A/N:** Thanks for the reviews: Gal Can't Help It, Of Healing Love, Murithemagnificant, miemae04, Musical cake, and 1ItachiUchiha! Sai's seal is canon, but Sakura isn't aware of it yet. It's revealed in the Danzo Hokage arc. Don't worry, Of Healing Love, Madara and Sakura will get together eventually, and I will be upping the rating to M when it happens. Not sure if I should post all the details here or offsite, though. Really don't want this story reported.

_Sakura speaking to Madara in her mind._

**Madara speaking to Sakura in her mind.**

* * *

><p><strong>-Dream-<strong>

Sakura found herself standing in front of a quiet river in the middle of the forest. The sunlight was warm, and the wind whistled gently through the trees. Her mind felt hazy, as if she was half asleep, but also awake at the same time. Her body felt weird, smaller than she was used to. It was an odd sensation. She tried to remember how she got there, but it didn't seem that important right now. The sound of the stream was soothing, washing away any thought that something didn't feel right. This place was special to her. She felt... nostalgic...?

Her body almost moved by itself, throwing a stone across the water, watching it skip a few times before failing to reach the other side and sinking below the ripples. Sakura frowned, disappointed. She thought that it would have made it across that time. No matter, next time she'd get it. She bent down and grabbed another rock that looked good. Straightening up, she paused, trying to think, but her head still felt cloudy. Had she been doing this for a while?

A stone flew past her without warning, skipping over the water to land on the other side. Annoyed, she looked over her shoulder to see a young boy with a bowl-cut hair. Stupid hair, really. "You need to throw them with a little more passion," he said, "That's the trick behind it."

Sakura glowered at him. "I already know that," she grumbled, "I can reach the other side if I really tried to. Anyway, who the hell are you?" She inspected the kid who had interrupted her rock skipping. His clothes were almost as lame as his hair. She was seriously tempted to tell him that.

"Hmm..." the idiot boy began, "Right now, you could say that I'm your rival in rock skipping, but I've already gotten mine to the other side." He had this annoying cocky grin on his face, one that she really wanted to wipe off. Just because he had gotten his stone to the other side was no reason to be so smug about it!

Still irritated, Sakura barked, "You never answered my question! Who the hell are you?!" Her fist clenched around the rock as she tensed. Was he an enemy or just some kid that had stumbled across her?

The lame boy replied, "You can call me Hashirama. Probably best if I don't give you my surname..." She stared at the boy suspiciously. A refusal to give a surname meant...

Wait...

Hashi... rama?

With a startled gasp, Sakura jerked awake, her arms and legs flailing in a useless struggle with her tangled sheets. She was sweating lightly, breathing hard, her eyes wide. She was in her room. The door was closed and the blinds drawn. She sat up slowly in the dark, taking a few moments to calm down and assess the situation. It quickly came back to her.

She had split from Madara and gone to take a nap, tired from work that day. It was always exhausting when she had a stressful shift at the hospital, and then when she got back home having to go through the strain of the Uchiha leaving her body to possess a clone. Sakura had wanted to leave another clone to watch him while she slept, but he had naturally objected and she had been too tired to argue about it. Even after her short rest, she still felt fairly tired and drained. She blamed Madara for that.

Sakura rubbed her forehead and frowned, musing about the dream. Had it been just a dream? It had seemed so real, but how was that even possible? Some kid calling himself Hashirama... a river she'd never been to... the way she'd moved and talked like she wasn't in full control... the feelings she'd experienced...

Shit, a memory! Her breath caught in her throat as she realized that she had dreamed about Madara's past. Even if it was somewhat of a stretch, Sakura instinctively knew it to be true, and it did make sense, given their connection. More importantly, the dream being a memory felt right to her. She swallowed, suddenly nervous. She could never ever let him find out about this.

It could possibly be a leak or side-effect of the seal he had used on her, the one that kept his soul trapped inside her body. Quickly expanding on the theory, she figured that this dream was either a fluke, or it could be one of many to come. She really hoped it was the latter. It would be great to get insight and more information on Madara's past. Knowledge is power, especially when it came to dealing with the Uchiha.

Shaking her head in frustration, she suppressed a growing sense of panic. He had already been through most of her memories, but she didn't know if he was still checking on what she did when they were apart. There had to be a way to lock the memory of the dream away from him. Sakura bit her lip, thinking hard. How to keep a secret from someone who shared her mind...?

Ino! That was it! The Yamanaka clan specialized in mental jutsu. If anyone could help her, Ino could. Aware that she only had a few hours left before Madara had to leave the clone body, she quickly showered and dressed in a rush, intending to talk to her friend as soon as possible. She paused before opening her bedroom door, steeling her nerves. Don't let Madara think there's anything to worry about, she told herself, just act normal. Taking a deep breath, she turned the handle and stepped out.

Immediately, Sakura caught the Uchiha's attention. "Oi, brat," he called to her from his position on the couch, the place where he had been spending the majority of his time. She stiffened and glared at the Uchiha. He was resting his legs on the full length of her couch, his upper half propped up by a mound of pillows with an open book in his hand. What an annoying, lazy bastard he was.

"What?!" she snapped, angry that he still had yet to address her by her name even once. Really, it wouldn't take much effort to be polite and call her by her name. Gritting her teeth, Sakura stopped her internal bitching before it could get out of control. She couldn't afford to get into an argument with him and waste time. She needed to leave and find Ino as soon as possible.

Madara glanced up from his book after turning a page, "Be a good little girl and go make me something to eat." After giving the order, he waved a dismissive hand and continued to read. Sakura was left standing looking at him, mouth gaping in shock as what he just said registered in her mind. Did he really just...? Oh hell no.

All thoughts of acting normal and not getting into a fight left her. The anger and irritation that had slowly been building up during the past few weeks boiled over into an explosion of rage. From the daily insults to the seal of silence he had forced upon her, she had fucking had enough! She clenched her fists and snarled, face turning red.

"You sexist pig!" she shrieked, storming towards him. Madara's eyes left his book to watch her approach, looking completely unconcerned there was a furious girl coming right at him with a murderous expression. He cocked an eyebrow and the corner of his mouth turned up slightly.

"How fucking dare you! Just because I'm a girl doesn't mean that I'm going to cook for you! You're such a conceited asshole! You can't just snap your fingers and order me into the kitchen! Cook your own damn food! Oh wait, that's above you, isn't it?! You have no idea how to make anything, do you?! Well you can just starve for all I care!" With that said, Sakura grabbed the end of the couch and flipped it over, sending Madara and the pillows he had been resting on flying into the air. Of course he landed on his feet and of fucking course he caught the couch too, with one hand since he was still holding a book with the other. He smoothly lowered the piece of furniture back into the correct position.

Sakura turned on her heel, grinding her teeth as she stomped away. Seriously fuck Madara. How did he manage to do everything so damn perfectly all the time?! Shaking her head in frustration, she tried in vain to calm down. It was no use though. Hopefully her anger will have ebbed when she found Ino, otherwise her friend might become worried.

As she slammed the front door behind her, she caught a glimpse of Madara with one hand covering his mouth, his dark eyes amused and shoulders slightly shaking with suppressed laughter. The sight only renewed her fury, and after leaving a pair of clones to guard her apartment, she unfortunately scared a few citizens of Konoha with the look on her face during her hunt for Ino.

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><p><strong>Next Chapter:<strong> Sakura undergoes an interrogation from Ino. Madara cooks dinner and is smug about it.


	13. Lies

**A/N:** Thanks for the reviews: G-man, LChan3706, 1ItachiUchihagurl, Musical cake, Of Healing Love, Awkward Kunoichi, cutehoney4, AMidnightSilhouette, I Am Inner Me, GoldenPiggy, Gal Can't Help It, and angrypixels! You all set a new record for number of reviews for a chapter. Thanks a bunch! Thanks to all the new followers and favorites too. Glad everyone is liking the story so much. I intend to keep delivering the humor and Madasaku goodness.

Madara finds Sakura's rage and anger fits amusing. He gets bored often and provoking her is easy entertainment. Thanks for the tip on ratings and whatnot, Of Healing Love. Gal Can't Help It, no I haven't received fanart for this story, but I'm only posting it on this site, not on tumblr or anywhere else. Plus I haven't even written it to the point where they somewhat like each other.

If you catch any grammar errors in this chapter, do let me know so I can fix it. Thanks!

_Sakura speaking to Madara in her mind._

**Madara speaking to Sakura in her mind.**

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><p><strong>-Lies-<strong>

Ino folded her arms across her chest and gave Sakura a critical look. "No, Forehead," she said, "I insist that you tell me why exactly you're asking me to perform this jutsu on you." The two girls were sitting across from each other on Ino's bed.

Sakura frowned, her thoughts racing to come up with an excuse. She knew she couldn't tell Ino about Madara, but she needed to give an acceptable reason, something that would placate her friend. The seal he had placed on her tongue prevented her from telling the truth, but... she wondered how far she could push it. "Well..." she began hesitantly, "There's this... boy-" and just like that, she felt a slight shock of pain and her jaw tensed up. Fucking Madara, seriously, he was careful to the point she could accuse him of being paranoid.

Luckily Ino didn't seem to notice it when she winced from the pain, instead looking extremely gleeful and gushed, "Sakura! I knew you'd eventually find someone that would catch your eye! It's about time too. It's been years since-" she stopped short and coughed awkwardly.

"It's okay," she reassured her best friend. Sakura knew that Ino had been about to mention Sasuke. She pushed aside the sadness and regret that always accompanied any mention of her former teammate's name. There were more important matters to worry about right now.

"Well, anyways, what's he like?" Ino asked, recovering from her brief interruption. "Is he cute?" Sakura nearly snorted at the question. She didn't think she could ever classify Madara as cute. The very thought of it was ridiculous. "Do I know him? Is he a shinobi? Does he make you happy? Give a name, come on, details!"

"Sorry, Pig, it's a secret," Sakura replied, ignoring Ino's protesting whine, "That's kind of why I'm asking you to do the jutsu. He's a... civilian and I want to make sure nothing happens to him in case I ever get captured or interrogated. You know full well how many enemies we make in our line of work. And no, you have never met him." She felt bad lying to her friend. There was no alternative though. And then she topped it all with the biggest lie, using all her willpower to keep a straight face, "He does make me really happy."

A frown appeared on Ino's face for a short moment, but then she nodded and smiled, accepting the answer. "Okay, but you're going to have to introduce me to him sometime. Promise me that, and I'll do it for you." Sakura quickly pictured that situation. Sure Ino, I would like to introduce you to the supposedly dead psychopath that lives inside my mind and torments me on a daily basis. Did I mention he's also an Uchiha? She bit her lip to hide an amused grin, despite the actual seriousness of the situation.

Sakura really didn't want to have to accept the deal in fear that Ino would insist she honor it, but she had no choice. "Okay fine. He's busy a lot though so I don't know when I can arrange it," she said.

Ino smirked, "I can be patient, as long as it happens eventually." Sakura did not like that smirk, not at all. She knew Pig had something up her sleeve. Her friend stood up and moved in front of her, reaching up to brush aside her pink hair before pressing her fingers to Sakura's forehead. "Just try to relax," she instructed. Sakura closed her eyes and sighed as she felt her friend's chakra seep into her head. She nearly flinched in guilt when Ino said, "I'm glad he makes you happy."

"Mmm..." Sakura hummed noncommittally, not wanting to continue the conversation. Her friend took the hint and dropped it, focusing on the work she was doing in Sakura's mind. It took only half an hour for Ino to complete the jutsu that would create the equivalent of a mental lockbox where Sakura could hide any memory she wanted. Madara would not be able to see anything she locked away, nor would he be able to sense the existence of the lockbox. Hopefully.

Sakura had no idea if Ino would be able to detect Madara's seal in her mind, but after the jutsu was done, her friend gave no indication that she knew something was wrong. She was both relieved and disappointed. She immediately hid the memory of the dream and after thanking and saying goodbye to Ino, she locked up the memory of what had just transpired too. With any luck, the Uchiha would never know what she had done, especially the fact that she had passed him off as her secret boyfriend. She physically gagged in disgust.

Seeing Ino had been a nice distraction, but as she made her way home and found herself standing in front of her door, the strong irritation Sakura had been feeling earlier quickly reared up again. With an annoyed sigh, she dispelled the clones she had stationed earlier, opened the door and stepped inside. As she locked it behind her, she was confronted by the most delicious smell coming from her kitchen.

Curious, Sakura entered the room and to her immense surprise, found Madara sitting at the table, a large array of sushi sitting on plates in front of him. There was normal rolled sushi, fried Inarizushi, and strips of fish resting neatly on top of a bed of white rice, accompanied by a variety of vegetables. It all looked like it was cooked and set out by a pro. She gawked at the scene.

Of course, Madara immediately noticed her presence, "There you are. I did your job for you. Have a seat." He motioned to the chair across from him. Sakura saw that he had a set a place for her. She grit her teeth, tempted to just say no and tell him to go fuck himself, but she was really hungry...

Screw it. She could place nice, for now. She stiffly walked over to the empty chair and sat down, glaring across the table at the Uchiha. He raised an amused eyebrow. "Did you cook all of this?" she asked, joining him in piling food onto her plate. She already knew the answer. She mentally cataloged the ingredients she would need to replace. Ouch, her paycheck.

"Yes, and if you ask me properly I will consider giving you a lesson," Madara replied in a smug tone. Sakura huffed and picked up a bit of sushi that looked good, making a show of thoroughly inspecting it. Ask him for a cooking lesson? Fat chance. "It's not poisoned or tampered with," the Uchiha said, proving his point by biting into a piece of Inarizushi. She watched him for a moment, then satisfied that he had indeed not messed with the food, took a small bite of her own sushi roll.

It was fantastic, she was forced to admit to herself. Better than anything she had ever made or could make. Madara seemed to know this too, judging by the look of smug self-satisfaction on his face. She glowered and avoided looking at him, focusing on eating her share of the food. It really was good. Pity that she had to eat in terrible company. The Uchiha made a point to comment on cooking techniques he had used, and then of course included a thinly veiled insult about how her past cooking did not measure up and how she was a failure as a woman because of it.

Sakura dutifully ignored him and focused on shoving food into her mouth, silently burning with fury, though it didn't make any difference in stemming the tide of annoying comments. She was somewhat tempted to mock him about how much pride he was taking in being a good cook, something normally considered to be girly, but he'd probably twist it to work in his favor. She also thought about flipping the table on him, though after the couch episode, it probably wouldn't do much good and it would cause a huge mess with the food anyways. She sighed, frustrated with how difficult it was to truly one up the bastard.

After they were finished, Madara of fucking course made her do the clean up. However, she did manage to be petty about it and make a lot of noise, banging pots and plates around while he tried to read, earning quite a few glares and insults. Serves him right for being such an insufferable asshole.

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><p><strong>Next Chapter:<strong> Sakura has another dream. Madara violates her privacy yet again.


	14. Dreams and Nightmares

**A/N:** Thanks for the reviews: Of Healing Love, Gal Can't Help It, GoldenPiggy, Ady, angrypixels, M, 1ItachiUchihagurl, Musical cake, cutehoney4, Stunning Sunset, argent-snow, sungsi, and L! Welcome back, argent-snow, I was wondering where you had gone lol. Also, welcome to the new reviewers. Glad you're liking the story! Madara's a dick this chapter, poor Sakura.

Again, let me know if you see any bad grammar. I might have missed something in this chapter.

_Sakura speaking to Madara in her mind._

**Madara speaking to Sakura in her mind.**

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><p><strong>-Dreams and Nightmares-<strong>

The next time Sakura dreamed about Madara's past, she was aware of what exactly was happening and didn't try to fight it, instead letting the events take their course. There was less of a hazy fog in her mind, thankfully. She was definitely more alert and able to recognize herself. Last time she had truly felt as if she was the Uchiha. Again, she saw everything through the eyes of the younger Madara. It seemed like the dream had skipped ahead a little, as she found herself screaming and pointing accusingly at Hashirama.

"Asshole! You stood behind me on purpose, didn't you?! It's so obvious you're trying to distract me!" she yelled. The young Senju, not that Madara was aware of who he really was yet, Sakura thought with a mental smirk, looked shocked and upset by the verbal abuse.

She continued the rant, "I can't even take a leak if someone is standing near me! That's how aware of my surroundings I am!" So even as a child, he didn't like people standing behind or near him. She would have to revive her 'Stand Behind Madara Until He Gets Annoyed' campaign. She'd been slacking about doing it lately.

With a quick thought about how boys can be seriously gross sometimes, Sakura was able to tell that Madara had tried to skip another stone and failed at it, and was now blaming the other boy.

Hashirama collapsed to the ground with an air of depression thick enough that even Sakura could feel it in her dream state. He muttered, "Forgive me..." Was this how the first Hokage really was in his youth? She had to agree with the young Madara that he was kind of lame...

She felt a wave of guilt... Madara's emotions? Yes, that was what it was. So he wasn't totally heartless, as a kid at least. Though she was more aware of her own self this time, the downside was that there was more of a disconnect between her and Madara, so it was harder to tell exactly what he was thinking and feeling, except when it was a strong emotion apparently. She began a stuttering apology, "... Uhh... relax... no need to get all emotional and stuff... I mean... I kinda have this bad habit of making excuses when I-"

Hashirama interrupted her with a subtle mocking tone, "No need to explain... Your ego is just so big that you have a god complex..." Sakura burst out laughing inside her mind. She totally took back ever thinking that he was lame. Anyone who called Madara out like that was awesome in her book.

Of course the Uchiha didn't share in her mirth, taking insult to the other boy's words, growling in irritation, "Why you... I can't tell if you are hyper sensitive or just a smart-ass..."

Jumping to his feet, Hashirama laughed and taunted her, "Gayahahaha! One thing you should be able to tell is... you are no match for me when it comes to rock skipping!" Sakura wanted to agree but she couldn't control the sequence of events. Feeling smugly happy that Madara had been put in his place, she was content to watch the interaction between the two boys.

The Uchiha was livid, seething in rage. He snarled a threat, "Keep gloating and we'll see how well you skip across this creek!"

The other boy fell to the ground again, wrapping his arms around his legs and lowering his head. The air of depression was back. "Forgive me... I've clearly upset you... To atone for my sin, you have my permission to use me as a rock and throw me across the creek..."

Sakura felt Madara's surprise and guilt again, though there was notably less of it this time. "Jeez... No need to go and cry about it," he grumbled. She wondered if Hashirama was just playing around or if he was actually bipolar.

"I just hope... that I don't drown before reaching the other end..." the other boy muttered from the ground, the tone once again carrying a hint of mockery. With a great deal of amusement, Sakura decided that Hashirama was just a master troll.

Predictably, the young Madara exploded, the annoyance and anger reaching a critical point, "Man you're pissing me off!" he yelled, "Leave. Now."

Hashirama got up to obey the raging boy and go, mumbling, "If you say so..." Aw, so much for her entertainment. This dream had been turning out to be fantastic so far.

To Sakura's surprise, Madara grabbed the retreating boy's shirt and stopped him. "Hold on!" he commanded. Maybe the Uchiha was the one who was bipolar, she mused.

Hashirama turned around to look over his shoulder at her, "You want me to leave or not? Stop being so indecisive..." he complained. Before Madara could answer her, both of them noticed a body floating down the river. The shock of it was enough to wake Sakura up, much to her disappointment.

Immediately she shoved the memory of the dream inside her mental lockbox before Madara became aware of it. He hadn't noticed it after rejoining her inside her mind last night and she was eternally thankful for that. Given his nature as a control-freak, she knew he would have confronted her if he had found out. She took a few seconds to become aware of her surroundings and was surprised to find her body under Madara's control, cleaning up dishes. What was going on?

'**Finally you're up**,' the Uchiha commented nonchalantly in her head, '**I tried waking you earlier but you were out cold. Must have been quite a dream, hm?**' She didn't reply just yet, taking note of the status of her body. The first and most important thing she noticed was that she was dressed, and clean. She was clean... had he... had he seriously...

'_Did you... did you shower in my body?_' she asked in an anxious tone, her nerves frayed, on the verge of mentally hyperventilating. Waking up from a good dream to this nightmare of a reality...

'**Hn**,' was the only reply from Madara, confirming her fear. '**To be fair, I did try to wake you up. I left it as long as possible, but it got to the point that you would be late for work. So I took care of your morning routine. I even cooked and ate breakfast for you**.' The Uchiha paused, noting her shock and growing rage. He sighed, '**Really, you should be thanking me**.'

Sakura snapped, '_Thanking you?!_' she shrieked, '_You PROMISED me that you wouldn't do shit like that! You... you showered in MY body! Oh my god-_'

Madara cut her off, '**Relax. It's nothing I haven't seen before. More importantly, I think we're at the level where we can spend the entire day apart**.' He formed the clone seal and with a slight jab of pain, split off from her, possessing the clone and transforming it into his likeness.

She recovered quickly from the process, then continued her rant, "So fucking what?! I don't give a crap about who else you've seen naked, that's not the fucking point! You once again violated my privacy and for what?! So I wouldn't be late?! Why would you even fucking care-"

The Uchiha ended her tirade by slamming her into the wall and forcibly covered her mouth with a hand, using his other to grab her wrists. He blocked her legs with a knee, pinning her without a chance for her to struggle. She growled into his hand and tried in vain to bite him. He responded by pressing down harder, enough that she was in pain. Sakura glared at him, absolutely furious. He was close enough that his hair tickled her face.

"Enough," Madara commanded with a slightly annoyed tone, "Don't blame me for your inability to wake up. I will not have you doing anything, even something minor like being late to work, to tip off any of your friends that something is wrong."

She snorted and rolled her eyes, still mad as fuck. The Uchiha ignored her and continued, "Do not expect an apology for what I did, either." Sakura intensified her glare, channeling all her hate for him. This bastard had seen her naked. The mere thought of it burned her. Madara noticed her silent rage and a taunting smirk spread across his face, "Not that there was much to look at anyways."

Sakura's eyes widened at his words and she shrieked, his hand muffling the sound. She twisted her body, fighting against him, wanting to beat the crap out of him until there was nothing left but a bloody smear on the floor. His laugh only spurred her on. Madara humored her for a moment before pressing down harder to control her struggles. "If you want to prevent this from happening again, make sure you wake up on time. Now, either you calm down and go to your job, or I'll tie you up and go as you," he threatened, "Your choice, brat."

She fell still, seething in anger about the injustice of all of this, but mentally aware enough to realize that she did not want him to make good on his threat. Madara going to work as her? It was worse than seeing her naked. At least she was the only one hurt by that, but if he impersonated her, there's no telling how much he'd screw over her social life or even harm her friends.

Sakura closed her eyes to avoid looking into the bastard Uchiha's mocking gaze, taking time to forcibly calm herself down. After a good few long moments, Madara said, "If you don't leave now, you will be late. What will it be? Are you going to behave?"

Much calmer, but still upset, she opened her eyes and nodded slightly. He looked intently at her, searching for any deceit, and upon finding none, released her. She had to use all her willpower to restrain herself from throwing a chakra-enhanced punch. Instead, she grit her teeth and spun on her heel to storm out the door. "Ah, before you leave," Madara called to her, "Be a good girl and pick up the new book in the 'Nations at War' series."

Sakura clenched her fists, incensed at the demand, turning to first flip him off, then spit in his direction, and finally punctuated her response by growling, "Go fuck yourself." With that, she slammed the door and created her clone guards. Now that he was out of sight, she risked being late to work to bury her face in her hands for a minute, fighting back tears. Madara always got the upper hand and humiliated her, over and over. Would she ever get a break?

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><p><strong>Next Chapter:<strong> Sakura takes out her anger in the training grounds. Madara gets his book.


	15. A Step Forward

**A/N:** Thanks for the reviews: cutehoney4, angrypixels, Gal Can't Help It, RaspberryCaramel, Of Healing Love, 1ItachiUchihagurl, la canelle, Musical cake, daliapvperez, argent-snow, jiggy, and anon guest! Don't worry Of Healing Love, Sakura will start to gain some ground on Madara very soon! And thanks for pointing out the spelling error, I try to catch all of them sometimes I miss one or two. Argent-snow, your prediction is correct, hehe.

I think Madara redeems himself just a tiny bit this chapter. Sorry this update is a day later than usual. Had stuff to do on Saturday and was kinda sick on Sunday, plus this was a bit hard to write since it's an important chapter. Enjoy!

_Sakura speaking to Madara in her mind._

**Madara speaking to Sakura in her mind.**

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><p><strong>-A Step Forward-<strong>

Another large chunk of ground went flying through the air before landing a good fifteen or so feet away with a loud thud. Sakura bent over to catch her breath. She was tired and sweaty and it was a hot day, but imaging each rock or bit of earth she punched to be Madara's face really helped her release some of the frustration and fury she held. She had come directly to the training grounds after her shift at the hospital ended to take advantage of the remaining time she had free from that bastard before she had to go back home. It killed her to know he had seen her naked.

With an angry growl, Sakura slammed her foot down, rupturing the ground and flooding the air with another burst of dust and scattered grass. She wiped the sweat and dirt from her forehead as the debris settled. A moment later, she focused chakra into her fists again, ready for another go, when a slow clapping interrupted her. Sakura tensed, battle-ready, and spun around to locate the source of the noise. She blinked in surprise when she caught sight of a young black-haired boy sitting under a tree watching her from the shade. It took a few seconds for it to sink in, but when she realized who it was, her mouth dropped open in a horrified silent scream and she pointed an accusing finger at him.

"You!" she shrieked. If she hadn't been having those dreams, she probably would not have recognized him at all. His hair might be way shorter and his body younger, but he still had that smug look permanently glued onto his face.

"Don't mind me," Madara drawled, his voice not as deep as it usually was given his current henge transformation, "Carry on with your landscaping." Sakura was too busy screaming internally to come up with a reply. All the what-ifs and questions running through her head terrified her. What if he had hurt her friends? What if he had been plotting against the village? How the fuck did he get past her clones? Oh god, what if this wasn't the first time?!

She stormed over to him, her teeth bared in a snarl. "How did you get out without my clones seeing you?" she demanded, glaring down at him with the full force of her fury.

He looked up at her, amused, "Really, what kind of shinobi do you take me for? It's a simple matter to sneak past two clones, especially when they're yours." He picked up a book, which Sakura had not noticed until now, and placed it on his lap, "Besides, I told you to get this for me. Since you refused, I went out and got it myself."

She stared at the novel, recalling that he had annoyingly asked her to get it for him after roughing her up and threatening her. She scowled, "I thought you had no intention of leaving my apartment because you wanted to keep a low profile."

He rolled his eyes, a childish gesture fitting his appearance, "That was my original intention, but I got bored." He rested his head on one hand, still smirking at her, "This isn't the first time I've been out in the village, you know."

Sakura's eyes widened in shock. Fuck. That was what she feared. She sat down slowly a few feet away from him. She sighed, burying her face in her hands, feeling a wave of defeat, her anger reduced to a mild simmer. "I assume every time you went out, you looked like that?" She already knew the answer. He wouldn't be foolish enough to parade around in his original look.

"Of course," Madara replied. At her anguished groan, he leaned over and condescendingly patted her on the head, "Don't worry, brat, I didn't harm your precious village or friends." Wow, thanks asshole, she felt SO much better now, assuming he wasn't lying.

She snarled and swatted his hand away, glaring at him again. Her eyes slid down to the book on his lap. "You owe me so much money for all the shit you buy," she grumbled, and then flopped over onto her back, frowning up at the leaves and the sky. He didn't reply and a few minutes of silence passed by.

She lost herself in mulling over how hard she been trying to control and keep an eye on the Uchiha, but ultimately it didn't matter what she did. The fact that he had left the apartment without her clones knowing multiple times was a slap in the face to all the effort she put into it. Maybe she was going about this the wrong way? Trying to brute force her will and meet him head on was clearly not working. Neither was trying to trick him. She needed a new approach, but she had no clue what to do. It was really very frustrating.

Sakura looked over and found Madara engrossed in his book, content to ignore her. Annoyed about being dismissed so easily, even though it really shouldn't bother her, she scowled at him until he looked over at her and raised at eyebrow. "I hate you," she informed him.

The corner of his mouth turned up in a smirk. "I know," he replied, before turning back to his book. Sakura wasn't done just yet, though. She sat up and flicked a small stone at him. To her surprise, he didn't move to dodge it and it landed in his hair. Madara slammed his book shut and gave her his full attention, a slight look of annoyance on his face now. "Is there something else you want?" he asked, brushing the rock off.

"Yeah," she replied, "I want an apology for invading my privacy and showering in my body when you had no right to."

Madara sighed, "You're not going to get one ever so don't ask me again." Sakura narrowed her eyes and channeled her righteous fury through her glare. The Uchiha met her gaze straight on with a stubborn determination. A silent battle of the wills took place over the next couple of minutes. To an outsider, it would have been a hilarious sight. A young teenage pink-haired girl glaring bloody murder at a younger spiky-haired boy who had a frown slowly growing darker and more threatening as the seconds ticked by.

Sakura was the one who finally relented, remembering how meeting Madara head on never worked out. Even though it seriously bothered her to submit, she huffed and turned her back to him, crossing her arms and pouting. The Uchiha snorted and taunted her, "Giving up so easily?" When she didn't reply, he continued, his tone mocking, "Why don't you just stop trying at all? You have no chance against me. It was audacious of you to even think you could be my jailer, as you so impudently put it. Really, you are just an annoying, weak child. No matter what you do, I'll always be two steps ahead of you."

Taking a deep breath and mentally applauding herself for not snapping at him during his little speech, even though she was burning to give in and yell at him, Sakura turned around slowly to face Madara. He had that same smug smirk on his face that he always wore whenever he released a tirade of insults against her. Even though he had taken on a younger form, his facial expressions and manners were the same as his older self. Normally, she would respond with rage and screaming and he probably expected that, but this time, she would act differently.

Sakura's arm shot out and grabbed the collar of his shirt, pulling him towards her, close enough that their hair brushed against each other's foreheads. She took delight in the surprised look on his face. He had grabbed her arm, but did not retaliate more than that, thankfully. "I will never, ever give up," she bit out, her eyes wide, determination surging throughout her body. Madara was wrong about her, and she would prove it. "No matter how many times you knock me down, no matter how many times you outwit me, I will never ever give up. That... that is my ninja way."

She held him there until the shock faded from his face. After Sakura let him go, he leaned back and looked at her critically, his head tilted to the side as he considered her. It was somewhat intimating being stared at like that, even though he was posing as his younger self, but she did not turn away, allowing the strength of her will to reflect in her eyes, her face, her body language. She knew instinctively that this moment was important. There was no option for failure.

Finally, a smirk spread across his face, though it wasn't the normal condescending one that he usually sported. It was different somehow, but Sakura couldn't put it into words. "Hn," was all he said. Typical Uchiha.

She sighed and stood up, looking away to gaze over the ruined training grounds. She felt something indefinable had shifted. The moment was over now, though, and it would be unwise to pursue it. On a whim, she asked, "Want to spar?" Hitting his actual face instead of imaging his face on rocks would be an improvement.

Madara humphed, folding his arms across his chest, "You're hardly on my level. It wouldn't be much of a fight." He made a show of opening his book again and continuing to read.

Sakura frowned, but paused before returning an insult, opting to go in a different direction. "Mm, you're right," she replied, "I would feel bad beating up a child." She smiled down at him, a subtle taunt.

The Uchiha's eyes narrowed and he put his book aside. He met her gaze for a moment and she did not look away, challenging him silently. Madara's lips slowly curled into an amused smirk. He got up and walked past her to stand in the middle of the area in between two large craters. Once there, he turned to her and motioned with one hand to attack him, "Come at me, Sakura."

She put up a good fight, but in the end he won of course. She didn't feel upset over the loss, even if he was fighting in his younger form still. Sakura got a few good hits in, plus covered him in dirt once when she broke the ground from under him. It was only after they had returned to her apartment that she realized it had been the first time Madara had actually used her name.

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><p><strong>Next Chapter:<strong> Sakura tests a theory on how to get Madara to do what she wants. Madara has a brief moment of weakness.


	16. A Simple Request

**A/N:** Thanks for the reviews: 1ItachiUchihagurl, Of Healing Love, la canelle, sasukekarin0801, jiggy, anon guest, XBakaNinGyoX, and angrypixels! Yes, it only took 15 chapters but Madara finally acknowledged Sakura enough to actually use her name. Amazing, lol. I don't think you'll be disappointed in Madara's moment of weakness. I can't push them too far too fast without breaking character, but I hope you enjoy the bit of fluff in this chapter.

On a side (and sad) note, if anyone has a really good translation of Madara's final words in the manga I'd really love to see it, because Mangapanda and Mangastream have kinda conflicting translations. Very sad to see him go, but I'm happy he wasn't talk-no-jutsu'd. I have a much better ending planned (imo), maybe even better than the actual manga depending on how Kishi handles it.

_Sakura speaking to Madara in her mind._

**Madara speaking to Sakura in her mind.**

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><p><strong>-A Simple Request-<strong>

"Do you see this?" Sakura asked, an irritated frown on her face. Madara, who was currently lounging on the couch, as usual, looked up from his novel with a bored expression. In her hand she held the reason she was complaining. She waved it in his face, "It's everywhere."

The Uchiha batted her hand away, "Yes, I see it. Why exactly are you bothering me about hair?"

"Your hair," Sakura emphasized, "All of it is yours. Everywhere. All over my home." She flung the strands of hair at him to punctuate her statement. Madara made no move to dodge, just letting it land on him with no complaint, something he might not have done a week ago.

After the spar a few days ago, they had come to a sort of silent semi-truce and had been getting along a little bit better. Madara had let up on a good chunk of the insults, but not all of course, and Sakura had been doing a pretty good job of not blowing up in a rage at him.

He had also been using her name more often instead of just calling her a brat. She did appreciate that, although she was still very concerned that he had been going into the village alone without her there to watch him. She did not trust him beyond what she knew or could confirm herself to be true. But that was a worry to think about later.

"Must you do that?" Madara complained, brushing the hair off with a flick of his hand. Sakura's eye twitched in annoyance as the strands landed on the carpet.

"Look," she began, "You are practically shedding, there's so much hair everywhere. Tie it up, brush it, or cut it, I don't care, just do something."

"Cutting it would be pointless and would only add to the problem. This is a transformation of your clone after all," he countered, speaking as though it was the most obvious thing in the world.

Sakura huffed, admitting to herself that he was right, although he was missing the original point. Even if he cut his hair, it would be long again the next time he did the henge jutsu. Chasing that train of thought, she mused out loud, "When you release the transformation, does the lost hair turn back into mine?" The image of masses of loose pink hair all over her apartment made her cringe.

"Of course," Madara replied, continuing with a mild taunt, "Didn't they teach you the nuances of transformation at the academy? I thought you were the top of your class."

She glared at him but did not rise to the bait, something she had been getting increasingly better at every time. The details of hair had in fact not been covered during the lessons on the technique, so she did reluctantly appreciate the gained knowledge, as minor as it was. Not pursuing the insult, she said, "Anyways, back on topic, do something about your hair."

Madara snorted and looked back down at his novel, "No, I don't care enough to do anything. It's only bothering you, not me."

Sakura scowled at the Uchiha, who ignored her glare and continued reading. She was determined to take care of this hair problem, one way or another. She had been giving a lot of thought on how to deal with Madara ever since the spar and had come up with working theory.

Butting heads with him never worked out in her favor, nor did trying to trick or manipulate him, since he saw right through it, being the paranoid man that he was. Subtly taunting him may work, proven when he took her up on her challenge when she called him a child, mocking the form he had taken. That also ran the risk of pissing him off, though, so it wasn't foolproof.

No method would ever work all the time on someone like him, anyways. It had to be done carefully and only when she really needed him to do something. Sakura had eventually decided that the best way to get Madara Uchiha to do something that he was not inclined to do is to tell him that it can't be done, is impossible, or imply that he isn't capable of it. Based on everything she knew about him and her past interactions with him, it was the most logically sound speculation she had come up with. Now this moment was a perfect opportunity to put her theory to the test.

Sakura briefly left the room to fetch a hair brush, returning to find a slightly amused Madara watching her. "I just told you no, Sakura," he said as she held out the brush to him.

"Then I'll do it for you," she offered, smiling when a surprised expression flashed across his face. She really did relish it when she shocked him. It was never truly easy to do.

"No," he said in a flat voice. She had heard it before and knew what it meant. Pushing him directly about it and demanding he brush his hair would only result in anger, but she wasn't going to tackle it head-on this time.

Sakura rolled her eyes and said in a slightly drawling tone, "I'm sorry, I forgot how much you hated having people behind you. Please forgive me for thinking you could handle having a girl brush your hair for you." Madara's eyes immediately narrowed and he glared at her. She continued, "Well, if it's too much to just ask you to sit there and let me take care of the problem so I can quit nagging you, then okay."

As she turned to leave, Madara stopped her, "Fine. Just get it over with so you can stop whining about it." She forced a victorious smirk off her face before turning back to him and motioning for him to sit sideways on the couch. Still glaring at her, he complied and she slid in behind him.

Sakura had to admit, she hadn't been sure if it would work or not. She thought she had been a bit too obvious in her methods, but it was the first time trying this and she was just glad it had actually worked. Hopefully he didn't think too much about it. She would definitely not enact this theory too often, only for critical things to maximize potential for success. It was nice knowing she could pull his strings, though. She locked these thoughts away in her mental vault and lifted up the brush.

Madara's hair was surprisingly soft for such a spiky mess, she thought as she ran the brush through it, picking up the many loose strands. He had started reading again and was actively ignoring her while she worked. Sakura was careful to not tug too hard on the knots, and hesitantly used her free hand to untangle a difficult one. When he didn't complain, she indulged herself and ran her hand through his hair a few times. Seriously, it was a crime for man to have hair this nice.

She fell into a rhythm and lost herself in her thoughts and the peace of the moment. Brushing the black hair of the Uchiha was rather calming in an odd sort of way. She wondered why he grew it out so much in the first place. Maybe she'd have a dream eventually that would tell her. Now that she could see it up close, at the right angle of light, some strands took on a slight dark blue sheen, similar to another Uchiha who would not be named and this thought will not continue. Back on track, she was curious if the subtle colors in Madara's hair would look the same in the sunlight? She only had her apartment lights to go by right now. It was dark outside, but maybe the moon would be out soon.

She glanced out the window to check when she caught sight of Madara's reflection in the glass. Sakura realized then that she hadn't heard him turn the pages of his book for a while, and now she knew why. He had his eyes closed and a relaxed expression on his face, a stark contrast to the smirks and the scowls and bored looks he normally wore. Really, why couldn't he look like this more often? He was much less intimidating and annoying when he looked so peaceful, he was actually kind of...

Sakura blinked and shook her head, refusing to complete that thought. Nope. Nope nope nope. Not going there. Madara jerked into alertness the second she stopped brushing his hair. She scooted back away from him as he turned around and stared at her with an unreadable look. "Done?" he asked.

"Yeah," she said quietly, looking away because she wanted to, not because she felt a blush threatening to appear or anything. And that would be from embarrassment and nothing else. Because it was an awkward situation. Really. Sakura promptly left the room and cleaned the mass amount of black strands from her hairbrush, and thought about how she definitely did not enjoy feeling how silky they were. Not at all.

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><p><strong>Next Chapter:<strong> Sakura's dreams progress into daytime visions. Madara is sneaky. Ino makes an unwelcome appearance and forms assumptions.


	17. A Vision of the Past

**A/N:** Thanks for the reviews: angrypixels, Of Healing Love, la canelle, anon guest, 1ItachiUchihagurl, Firerosemon, Gal Can't Help It, Sunbattle, AMidnightSilhouette, and XBakaNinGyoX. Glad everyone liked the last chapter. There's not going to be one singular event that has one fall for the other, it's going to be a slow buildup. I'll be feeling out when exactly they realize their feelings over the course of the story. I still have the general plot line, but I have two (I think) possible points in mind where they'll first confess and/or kiss, and it's not going to be for a while (much relationship building to do). So sorry, anon guest, although it would be funny, I'm sticking fairly close to canon until the war happens.

And yes, Madara likes having his hair brushed, not that he would ever admit it, haha. Let me know if you see any grammar errors in this chapter so I can correct. Thanks!

_Sakura speaking to Madara in her mind._

**Madara speaking to Sakura in her mind.**

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><p><strong>-A Vision of the Past-<strong>

After the hair brushing incident, as Sakura liked to call it, she had stopped complaining about Madara's shedding and just grit her teeth, cleaned up any stray hairs she found, and ignored it. She absolutely refused to think about how-

"Gah!" Sakura shrieked and buried her face into her hands, earning several odd looks from villagers passing by while she had a mini-freak out in the middle of the street. Stop it, no no no, she chanted internally. She had to think about something else. Work? She'd just finished her shift. Shuriken wounds from training accidents. Bloody, open cuts. Whining Genins who had too much confidence and bad aim. There, good. At least this time she hadn't ended up mentally reciting medical theories or procedures to distract herself.

She took a few deep breaths to calm down and resumed walking home. Sakura felt a bit anxious about working two hours overtime. She had stopped leaving clone guards to watch her apartment since Madara could easily leave without being seen anyways. As much as she loved the medical work and helping people, every second she was out was another second she had no idea what he was doing. She still did not trust him despite their somewhat improved interactions.

She almost dreaded when her Shishou's schedule cleared up and she was free enough to start training sessions again. She would be too much of a nervous wreck to make any progress. Or worse, Madara would be there inside her head making distracting and annoying comments. But as it stood now, her teacher was too busy with Hokage work to spare any time for her.

Sakura sighed deeply and picked up the pace a bit to get home faster, only to see a flash of movement out of the corner of her eye. She would have dismissed it, but it set alarm bells off in her head. She turned to look and stiffened in shock. She saw a faded image of the first Hokage, dressed in casual white clothes, walking down the street. What the actual fuck? She could see right through him. Was this a ghost..?

She stared for a moment, following his movements as he looked to the side and smiled at nothing. Then he reached out and pat the air, and a small white flower appeared in his other hand. She was seriously confused until ahead of them, a faded image of Madara stepped from around the corner. Then it clicked. Another memory. The first Hokage must have been greeting a villager, but for whatever reason, she wasn't seeing him or her.

Sakura was briefly concerned that her dreams of Madara's memories had now progressed into ghost visions, but she would not pass up the chance to get another glimpse of information about the man she was stuck with. There would be time to worry about the implications of why she was now seeing things later. She followed the two after they greeted each other, trailing after them through several streets. The faded pair passed right through a couple of actual living citizens, an odd sight for sure, but it confirmed that she was the only one who could see them.

It was interesting seeing Madara look actually happy and relaxed. Aware that thinking more about that would lead to an unwanted train of thoughts again, Sakura increased her pace to walk next to the two, watching them talk about something. She tried to read their lips, but she couldn't make out anything other than 'clans', 'dream', and 'village'. She did not once see the word 'Konoha', so this vision might be from before the village had been named?

After a few minutes of this, the ghost of a child appeared in front of them and tripped. To her surprise, the Uchiha rushed forward to help the little girl up. Sakura blinked, then smirked in amusement and quickly moved closer to get a better view. This was a side of Madara she hadn't seen before. She burst out laughing, again earning odd stares from villagers around her, as the girl saw the Uchiha's face and flung herself backwards, clearly terrified. Sakura clamped a hand over her mouth to control her laughter, not wanting to develop a public image of being some crazy chick.

The first Hokage's ghost walked over to calm the girl down by offering the flower he held. The child thanked both of them and ran off, disappearing after a few steps. The other two visions slowly faded after standing up and smiling at each other. Sakura waited a moment to see if that was it, but when nothing more happened, she leaped up onto a nearby roof and used chakra-enhanced jumps to speed home. While it had definitely been an interesting and amusing memory, she had lost a bit of time and needed to make it up. She didn't want to leave Madara alone longer than she had to, especially when there were small children living in the village who he could scare with his face.

Sakura started laughing again mid-leap and was forced to stop when she landed on the next roof. She clutched her sides and tried to calm down, but the image of that poor little girl with tears in her eyes from seeing the Uchiha's face kept popping up in her mind. It was too good! She definitely sympathized with the child. Madara could terrify anyone with just a look. Sakura finally managed to control her giggling and continued on, in a better mood than before. It was nice having some humor in her life, a welcome break from the amount of stress she'd been put through ever since she had stumbled upon that blasted cave.

It took just under ten minutes to reach her apartment. A quick probe with her chakra revealed that Madara wasn't inside. She frowned, now quite concerned, and closed her eyes to focus. She expanded her senses outward, trying to locate the missing Uchiha. Nothing. Sakura dug down into her mind, attempting to pull at the seal and see if she could use it to find him. Unfortunately, all she ended up with was failure and another five minutes wasted.

Sakura really did not want to piss him off and ruin their improving relationship, but she decided to risk it. She held her fingers up the sign to release the kage bunshin jutsu. "Kai," she whispered, fully expecting to have Madara's mind merge back into her body. Nothing happened. NOTHING. She bit back a scream and swore colorfully inside her head, calling the Uchiha every dirty word and phrase she knew. Of fucking course he found a way to block her from cancelling the clone he had possessed. She shouldn't even be surprised at this point.

She fought back the increasing worry and anxiety and pumped more chakra to her feet, taking off across the rooftops once again, her senses on high alert for any sign of Madara. Sakura spent an hour searching, growing more and more frustrated and cursing herself for not putting clone guards in place. At least then, they might have caught him leaving and followed him. Damn it all!

She checked his favorite bookstores, the library, and even passed by the jail, but picked up no trace of him. On the off chance that he had gone to his clan's compound, she decided to check there too. Sakura was just about ready to tear her hair out as she raced through the abandoned Uchiha complex when she heard a familiar voice talking. She focused on it, desperate to make out the words as she got closer to the source. "Remember, not a word to him about this," a teenage voice said. So he had wisely transformed into his younger self again... but who the fuck was he speaking to?

Sakura tore around a corner to find Madara giving her a surprised look. No one else was around, though. As he opened his mouth to say something, she interrupted with a demand, "Who were you talking to just now?"

His lips quirked up in an amused smirk. He motioned to a patch of grass beside him and replied, "The flowers." Sakura glared at him, in no mood for jokes after the hour of frustration and worry. All of her good humor from seeing the vision had vanished.

She stalked over to him, put her hands on her hips, and growled in the most threatening way she could, "I'm serious." While there were indeed several flowers growing in the grass he had pointed out, she did not believe him for even a second. She knew he was hiding something and she would find out exactly who he had been talking with.

Madara was about to reply when once again he was interrupted, but this time not by her. A shock of dread settled in her stomach as her best friend sauntered up behind them, "I thought I saw you, Forehead. Are you meeting up with your secret boyfriend?" Sakura knew she was completely fucked and no matter what happened in this meeting, the Uchiha was never going to let her live it down.

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><p><strong>Next Chapter:<strong> Sakura is horrified and embarrassed. Madara is highly amused. Ino is oblivious. The author apologies for ending on a cliffhanger.


	18. Sakura's Worst Day Ever

**A/N:** Thanks for the reviews: Of Healing Love, anon guest, la canelle, sasukekarin0801, Gal Can't Help It, 1ItachiUchihagurl, acetwolf94, and Perko. Of Healing Love, you're right, he was talking to Zetsu. Nice that you picked up on that hint. Sakura won't find out until much later though. Gal Can't Help It, Sakura's locking away anything she doesn't want Madara to see. I'm not always going to mention it though, cause it gets repetitive.

_Sakura speaking to Madara in her mind._

**Madara speaking to Sakura in her mind.**

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><p><strong>-Sakura's Worst Day Ever-<strong>

It seemed like everything was happening in slow motion after Ino made the 'secret boyfriend' comment. She watched with growing horror as a surprised Madara peered briefly around her to catch sight of her best friend, before looking back at her.

His expression flickered from shocked, to understanding, then to what Sakura figured was distaste or mild revulsion, which would have been insulting if she wasn't too busy wishing she could disappear into the ground right now, or die. Dying would be okay too. The worst was when a wicked and conniving grin spread across the Uchiha's face. She could practically see the scheming wheels turning in his mind.

"Kind of a depressing place to meet up though, huh?" Ino asked, completely oblivious to the intense dismay Sakura was feeling and the evil look on Madara's face. The blonde walked up beside her and blinked when she saw the supposed secret boyfriend. "He's kind of young, isn't he?" She mused, then jabbed Sakura playfully in the ribs and rambled on, "Robbing the cradle, Forehead? He's still pretty cute though! He's a civilian, right? I think that's what you said."

Sakura buried her face in her hands, trying to hide the fact that her cheeks were heating up. "He's not my boyfriend," she grumbled through her fingers. This was so, so bad. She had never wanted him to find out about this. She was thankful, however, that the seal on her tongue wasn't burning at all. Maybe since the Uchiha was present, it wasn't activating. Last time she had tried to talk about him to her friend, it had shocked with with a bit of pain.

"Don't lie, Sa-ku-ra," Madara said, drawing her name out in a teasing and mocking manner, "There's no need to be embarrassed about the minor age difference. Especially considering I've already seen you naked."

Oh. My. God. He did not just say that, fucking hell. Sakura swore under her breath, cursing the bastard Uchiha to burn in hellfire for all eternity. Ino, predictably, freaked out, "Sakura! You two have... you've _done it_ with him?!"

Sakura, in an effort to regain control of the quickly escalating situation before it turned into a complete disaster, straightened up and shook her head in denial, "No, Pig, stop jumping to conclusions." It was unfortunate that her blush hadn't died down yet, and she knew Madara would take full advantage of it.

"But he's seen you naked, right?" Her friend pressed, looking curiously between the two, a miserable Sakura and a smirking black-haired boy. Ino had no idea that the teen who appeared only a few years younger than her friend had actually lived many decades, nevermind the whole sharing a body and having died once before thing.

Before Sakura could answer, Madara replied, "Yes, it's true." She glared daggers at him while Ino gasped, though judging by the grin on her face, she was enjoying every moment of this. Her blonde friend had always liked learning juicy secrets, the more she wasn't supposed to know, the better. The Uchiha shot Sakura an amused smirk, his black eyes still holding a calculating sheen.

She suppressed a snarl and clenched her fist. Lying would only make it worse now. "Okay, fine," she admitted, "But we haven't actually done anything, Inopig." There. Hopefully her annoying friend would be satisfied with that.

Ino giggled in glee and pranced over to Madara. Sakura tensed slightly, a bit worried for her safety, but the Uchiha did nothing. He was remarkably tolerant as the blonde fussed over him, firing off question after question. "So what's your name? How old are you? Where do you live? When did you meet Sakura? How did you end up seeing her naked? Have you two kissed yet?"

Sakura's mouth fell open once again in horror, and before Madara could take advantage of the opportunity and fill her gossiping friend with lies, she marched over and pushed them apart, keeping the Uchiha close to her with a hand on his shoulder. She squeezed lightly, a warning to him to keep his mouth shut. No doubt he would ignore it though, being the asshole he was. Ino regarded the two with a cheshire cat grin on her face. "Possessive much, Sakura?" she teased.

Feeling a nervous tic coming on, Sakura grit her teeth and breathed deeply to try to calm down. To her surprise, Madara actually leaned into her, pressing against her side, his head resting on her shoulder. He was a bit shorter than she was in his current form, so he fit perfectly. He had the gall to drape an arm around her waist to prevent her from bolting. Sakura stiffened, screaming inside her mind, hyper aware of how warm he was and the dark hair brushing her cheek.

She glanced down at him, her wide eyes meeting a highly amused gaze. That bastard! He was fucking with her just to make it worse! Maybe this was his form of revenge for the secret boyfriend comment, maybe it was solely for his entertainment, or maybe he was just being a dick for the hell of it. Or maybe all three. Whatever the reason, despite his expression of distaste a moment ago, he was playing along with the act.

"Oh my god, you two are just so cute together," Ino cooed, still oblivious to how her friend was truly feeling. Sakura was torn between being horrified at this current moment and mentally freaking out that the blonde would spread this secret through her gossip circles.

"She always goes to great lengths to keep an eye on me," Madara said. "Perhaps she's a bit overprotective, but I don't mind." He sighed, playing up the dramatics, "The secret is out now, though." Sakura blinked, quickly processing his choice of words. Did he mean that he was upset or irritated that she had let someone know of his existence, even if she had lied about who exactly he was? It was possible, though he wasn't acting angry at all. If he was mad, he was hiding it extremely well. She might be overthinking it. Maybe this was just his way of punishing her for her slip up. Even so, it didn't make him less of an asshole for doing it. "My name is Tajima," he told Ino, "Sakura has told me to keep my last name to myself. Shinobi rules."

Ino nodded enthusiastically, overjoyed with this new piece of information. "It's really nice to finally meet you, Tajima! You really make her happy," she motioned at Sakura, "Did you know? She told me when she came and saw me a while ago."

"Oh? Is that so?" Madara hummed, looking up at the pink-haired girl, "I am so glad to know that. You should tell me yourself more often, considering I am _supposed_ to be your boyfriend." He had an evil, evil grin on his face. Sakura was still at a loss for words, stiff as a board, wishing that none of this was happening.

"So have you kissed yet?" Ino asked, her eyes alight with the desire to know even more about their relationship.

Hearing her friend's question, Sakura finally snapped out of it. "Okay, that's enough!" she barked, "No more. You met him, now shoo." She pointed in the direction of the Uchiha compound's exit.

"Aww, but Sakura! I still want to know if you two have kissed and how he saw you naked! Come on, tell me!" Ino whined, giving her puppy dog eyes.

"No, and it was an accident," she snarled at the blonde. "You better keep this a secret. I mean it. If you tell anyone else I'll never talk to you again." With that threat, she gathered her courage and picked up Madara, bridal style, leaping away with chakra enhanced speed. Ino was left behind, bent over and clutching her sides, shaking with laughter. Some friend she was, Sakura humphed.

She was so caught up in her anger, frustration, and embarrassment that she didn't even think how she was still carrying Madara until she was in front of her apartment door after traveling the entire way across Konoha's rooftops. When she realized that she was still holding him, she dropped him in shock. He was ready for it, however, and landed on his feet. She was helplessly confused about why he hadn't complained the entire way, but she'd had enough bullshit for today and just wanted to forget about it all instead of driving herself crazy wondering about it. She also really did not want to speak to him for the rest of the day.

He opened his mouth to say something after Sakura shoved him through the door and she jabbed a finger at him, shutting him up with the sudden gesture. "No," she said.

Madara chuckled as she brushed by him. Ignoring her clear desire that she did not want to talk right now, he said, "Well that was absolutely fascinating. Mind explaining how exactly I ended up being known as your secret boyfriend?" He said the last part with enough sarcasm that it was practically dripping from his tone.

Sakura spun around and glared at him. "I'll tell you whenever you want to tell me who exactly you were talking to before I found you. I haven't forgotten about that and I intend to find out the truth. Now if you'll excuse me, I'm done."

"You're done?" the Uchiha prompted, trailing after her, still wearing that same annoying smirk. He released the henge transformation and turned back into his older self with a puff of white smoke that quickly disappeared.

"Yep. I'm done. Done," Sakura declared and stalked into her bedroom, slamming the door behind her. She heard Madara's footsteps stop outside the entrance to her room and ignored him, flinging herself face down onto her bed. She seriously just wanted some alone time to unwind.

She fully expected him to taunt her or even force his way in, or worse yet, release the clone jutsu and rejoin her mind, but he didn't. She heard him sigh and mutter to himself, "Children..." After a few more seconds, he left and walked to her kitchen. Thank god for the small things, like Madara being considerate.

Sakura curled up into a ball and allowed herself a good, long overdue sulk. She tried, often failing, to not think about the encounter with Ino and the terrible embarrassment that followed. She especially tried to not remember how Madara felt pressed up against her side, because for some reason that bothered her even more than being humiliated, and she really did not want dwell on the reason why, because that would be admitting it, and fuck that. No.

She eventually lost track of time as she lied there on her bed. The delicious smells that slowly drifted in from the kitchen, accompanied by the occasional clang of kitchen utensils, did not cheer her up at all. Madara was an excellent cook, but even the thought of good food did nothing for her right now.

Worst day ever. Seriously.

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><p><strong>Next Chapter:<strong> Sakura has another dream. Madara digs for more information.


	19. Madara Uchiha, Detective Extraordinaire

**A/N:** Thanks for the reviews: AMidnightSilhouette, Of Healing Love, miemae04, Musical cake, Funnie, Ririn, la canelle, When God Abandoned The World, acetwolf94, 1ItachiUchihagurl, and The Imperfect Me. I'm really glad everyone really liked the last chapter! It was quite fun to write. This chapter probably won't be as exciting, but every week the story moves along a little more. AMidnightSilhouette, I will do a chapter on cooking sometime, when Madara and Sakura are on better terms.

Madara's assholeness will always be there to a degree (especially when dealing with other people), however he'll eventually tone it down with Sakura. Funnie, Madara was doing a henge over a henge, because he's Madara Uchiha and fuck the rules. I picture his younger self around 14. Sasuke will start coming up more often. Sakura's been preoccupied with the whole sharing a body with Madara thing and she's been trying to not think about Sasuke because it upsets her (Ino knows this), but when the Itachi vs Sasuke arc happens it'll be addressed. Ririn, the story will follow canon until the war arc, specifically until when Madara gets Edo Tensei'd (and by that I mean when he starts to be active via Edo Tensei, not the first time he's summoned for Kabuto to blackmail Obito). From there, it'll be vastly different.

_Sakura speaking to Madara in her mind._

**Madara speaking to Sakura in her mind.**

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><p><strong>-Madara Uchiha, Detective Extraordinaire-<strong>

Once again Sakura found herself dreaming about Madara's past. As usual, she was aware of what was happening and did not fight it, opting to go along for the ride and just watch everything from the young Uchiha's eyes. After a brief moment of tree hopping through the forest, she emerged from the branches to a familiar river bank.

Hashirama was already there, sitting by the water with his back turned towards her. She approached the other boy casually and called out, "Yo... long time no see... umm..."

Apparently Madara had forgotten the other kid's name. Fortunately, he picked up on the awkward prompt after a few seconds and replied, "It's Hashirama." Sakura mentally flinched. He sounded really down.

"Man, sulking before I even show up..." she teased, and then proceeded to try to get Hashirama to tell her why he was so depressed, but the boy deflected all her questions in that same tone of voice. He finally turned around and Sakura saw that he was crying, but Madara was too worked up and pissed off, already yelling, "Damn you! I'm trying to be considerate and understand here! So hurry up and spill your guts!"

"My little brother... was killed," Hashirama explained. The look in his eyes shook Sakura. As a shinobi, she was familiar with serious injuries and death, but no child should ever have that look in their eyes, like he's seen hell and lived to talk about it. The Senju's confession shut Madara up really fast, and she felt a surge of empathy and understanding from the Uchiha.

"I've always come here when I feel like this..." the other boy said, turning back to face the water, "All these emotions bottled up inside of me... I feel like the flow of the current can wash them all away..." After a pause, Hashirama looked over his shoulder at her. "Madara, right? It's the same for you, isn't it? Do you have any siblings?"

She walked forward and bent down to pick up a rock. "I have four brothers..." she replied, straightening up, a stone in her hand. She causally tossed it up and caught it. "Or rather, had four brothers..." Hashirama gave her a surprised look, but she ignored it and went on, "That's what it means to be a shinobi... death is always knocking on our door. From what I can tell, the only way we can avoid that is to be upfront and honest with the other side... Perhaps even, I don't know, form an alliance with them... but that's just wishful thinking... because we're all too proud to allow ourselves to be that vulnerable..." She pulled her arm back and prepared to skip the rock across the river.

Sakura was pretty impressed with Madara during his speech. She could feel that he meant every word of it and had spent a lot of time musing about the subject of changing the world. This must be how the seeds of Konoha got planted and how the village came to be. As she threw the stone, she continued, "I mean, who knows, maybe they don't hate you as much as you think..."

"Do you really think we'll never be able to be upfront and honest with the other side?" Hashirama asked, following the progress of the rock as it traveled over the water. She wondered if the Senju spent a lot of time thinking about the same issues Madara did.

"Beats me," she said, "but every time I come here, I hope that someone will find a way." The stone landed with a clack on the opposite side of the river. She smirked, proud of the accomplishment. "Looks like this time I got one over. Now you're not the only one who got to the other side." She saw Hashirama stand up out of the corner of her eye and turned to him. "I can read you like an open book."

The other boy looked taken aback for a moment, then blinked, "Wha?" Sakura waited with keen interest for the reply, eager to learn more about Madara's past. This dream was proving to be quite informative so far, seeing his early desire to influence and change the world he lived in, though she did want to know more about his brothers.

"You have no sense of style... look at your haircut and those clothes... don't get out much, do you?" she taunted with a shit-eating grin. Mentally, Sakura facepalmed hard. Even as a child, Madara was a huge dick. Not surprising, but still, way to disappoint. Man. Apparently Hashirama felt the same way, slumping over with the depressed air about him.

The scene blurred and she felt herself waking up. The next moment, Sakura groaned and sat up in her bed, quickly locking away the dream in Ino's seal.

'**Good, you're awake. Form a clone,**' Madara's voice echoed through her mind. Ugh, she just woke up and he's already snapping his fingers at her. Dick.

She kept quiet and did as he asked, though, happy to have him out of her head. With a brief strain and only a minor bit of pain, he was gone. Her clone transformed into the familiar figure of the Uchiha. "When you're done with all your morning rituals, I need to have a word with you," he said, looking down at her.

"Fine," Sakura grumbled and shooed him away. He left the room and she dragged herself out of bed a moment later. After showering, brushing her teeth, and getting dressed on auto-pilot, she exited her bedroom to find Madara waiting for her on the couch, his arms crossed and eyes closed, a contemplative look on his face. "What?" she asked, still a bit sleepy and now getting hungry too.

Black eyes opened to regard her with sharp interest. She stiffened, suddenly more alert and wary. "I've come across an... oddity," he began, "You see, I was curious to know why exactly your friend knew about me as your... secret boyfriend," he sneered at the end. " So I did some poking around in your head, and I kept finding blank spots. For example, there was a day where you went to visit her. I can see the memory of you entering her house and leaving it, but the events in between are gone." He leaned forward and rested his chin on one hand, "Tell me, Sakura, why are there so many holes in your memory?"

"Uh..." she stalled, her mind racing to come up with a believable lie, while at the same time trying to suppress quickly building panic. This was really bad... she never wanted him to find out about Ino's jutsu, but he was a keen man and of fucking course he'd notice bits of her memory were inaccessible to him. She felt kind of stupid for thinking that he wouldn't. Did he know about the jutsu already? She wasn't sure.

When the awkward silence had dragged on long enough for the Uchiha, he finally sighed in annoyance, straightened up, and said, "I scoured every inch of your mind while you were asleep and found nothing to indicate a reason why you'd be missing bits of memory. However... I did come up with a theory. Your friend's clan specializes in mental jutsu. The first instance of a hole occurring is when you went out to meet her." Madara paused for a moment, staring at her intensely. "She did something to your mind, didn't she?"

It took all of Sakura's willpower to not flinch and look away, as that would be an admission of guilt. Even so, she knew he had her and there was no denying it. He would be able to tell if she tried to lie. She wasn't sure if he'd be pissed off or not if she attempted to deceive him. Hesitantly, she confirmed his theory, "Yes."

She waited with tense breath for his reaction. The Uchiha's dark gaze was heavy and accusing and made her want to fidget. Would he retaliate for what she had done? The only positive in this situation was that he had not, and apparently could not, detect Ino's jutsu, so that meant he couldn't remove it. The moment seemed to drag on.

Finally, to her surprise and disbelief, Madara actually chuckled. At her confused look, he smirked and said, "Not bad, for a woman."

Very similar to how Hashirama reacted and must have felt earlier in her dream, Sakura blinked, "Wha...?"

"I don't really care if you want to hide some memories from me," he explained, "My other seal prevents you from revealing my existence... well, more accurately considering what already happened, details about me and my actual identity. The incident with your friend yesterday actually works out in my favor. I can move a little more freely in the village now." Sakura frowned at that. "That Yamanaka clan is quite impressive to create a jutsu that even I can't detect."

"You're not mad..?" Sakura asked, still in disbelief. Was he seriously not going to do anything to her? It was a relief, but not how she expected him to act. She thought she had been getting better at reading him and predicting his actions, but now he'd just proven otherwise.

Madara shot her an amused look, "No, so you can stop worrying. Like I said, if you want to keep your personal moments to yourself, that's fine." He paused for a few seconds. "I'd know if you tried to hide anything important from me, anyways."

With a glare, Sakura folded her arms across her chest and huffed, insulted. "Oh really? And how would you know when I can just hide the memory from you?"

The Uchiha stood up and strolled over to her. She stood her ground and frowned up at him. With a smirk, he pat her head and ruffled her hair, messing it up. Growling, Sakura batted his hand away. "Oi!" she protested when she saw he was leaving to the kitchen. "You didn't answer me!" She followed him, very irritated that he had messed up her hair.

"Mm?" Madara hummed absentmindedly as he took out a few pans and some eggs and other ingredients to cook breakfast with. As if the eggs were more interesting and needed more focus than talking to her! She still wanted a damn answer!

Now entirely frustrated at being fucked around with, Sakura complained, "Do you get a kick out of being a dick to me, or something?"

The Uchiha spared her a quick glance as he gathered more utensils, the corner of his mouth turned up, "Of course. I thought you would have realized that by now. Although... you are just a little girl..." he trailed off, becoming engrossed in the cooking. Riled up beyond reason with the insult to her gender, Sakura stomped her foot in anger, revving up to deliver a rant. Unfortunately for her, Madara took notice and intervened, pushing her out of the kitchen. "You'll get in the way. Out," he demanded. She struggled but within thirty seconds she was removed from the room.

This was just ridiculous... Sakura grit her teeth and hissed at him, much to his amusement. "You're a bastard," she said. For some reason she felt herself calming down. It was strange, and quite unlike her to let go of her anger so fast. She couldn't put her finger on it.

"One egg or two?" Madara asked, once again completely ignoring her. He was still holding a spatula and the hilarity of the sight was tickling her sense of humor.

Sakura had to bite back a laugh at how bizarre this conversation was getting. It was so typical, though... She realized that she only felt mildly annoyed, and the rest of her fury had vanished. With a roll of her eyes, she replied, "Two." Madara turned back to his cooking and Sakura wandered into her living room, trying to figure out what exactly had just happened.

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><p><strong>Next Chapter:<strong> Naruto comes for a visit. Sakura is very worried. Madara makes it worse.


	20. Interlude I : A World of Loss

**A/N:** Thanks for the reviews: Of Healing Love, Gal Can't Help It, AMidnightSilhouette, Jiggy, acetwolf94, Bloodshot111, la canelle, 1ItachiUchihagurl, Musical cake, miemae04, The Imperfect Me, anon guest, and Amy. Glad you all enjoyed the last chapter. It's always nice to see new reviewers too! Bloodshot111, sorry it seems like it's taking a long time. This isn't going to be a quick romance. I'm taking two characters who hate each other from the start and turning that into love, so it will be slow. I've spent the last couple chapters building up some moments between them. I intend to start the Sasuke/Itachi arc soon. I also keep trying to write earlier in the week, but usually I'm super tired after work, or sick, or get called into a WoW raid. Blargh.

Of Healing Love and The Imperfect Me brought up good points. Since this is written from Sakura's pov, you guys don't see what Madara has been doing (and yes there has been a lot I haven't told you), especially when Sakura doesn't know about it, or doesn't see hints of it. I intended to write solely from her perspective, but I think I'm going to have to do some Madara interlude chapters here and there to recap what he's been doing. So instead of the Naruto chapter this week, hope you all enjoy seeing what our favorite Uchiha has been up to so far.

Hopefully I've explained Madara's motivations thoroughly enough. If I missed anything or you have any questions, ask in a review and I'll answer next chapter. Also grammar errors, I might have missed some.

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><p><strong>-Interlude I : A World of Loss-<strong>

Madara Uchiha learned early on in life that this was a world of winners and losers, and unfortunately, he was one of the losers. Time after time, he had his hopes, dreams, and goals crushed. He failed to protect his brothers, failed to protect his clan, and had his dream of a peaceful village shattered with the bitter truth of reality. When he deciphered the Uchiha stone tablet and learned the history of shinobi, he had been overcome with hopelessness. Luckily, he also discovered the one way to end this hell of a reality and create a world of true peace and only winners. From then on, his life was devoted to the goal of casting Infinite Tsukuyomi on the moon and saving the world from an endless cycle of hate.

While he had succeeded in gaining Hashirama's dna during their last battle, it took far too long for him to awaken the Rinnegan. By the time the Senju's power manifested in Madara, he was too old to complete the Eye of the Moon plan, especially with none of the tailed beasts in his possession. His many losses had made him crafty, though, and he set plans in motion to lead to his resurrection. While Obito had been a stroke of luck to find, he was wise enough to not fully trust the brat. His many decades spent alone in his cave led to new and useful jutsu being created. Namely, the one he used to bind his soul to this world until a suitable vessel stumbled upon his throne.

Madara never expected his backup plan to land him sealed inside a teenage girl. He also never expected said girl to successfully fight off his soul from completely taking over her body with some bizarre split personality. It left him in a bad position. The seal was designed to allow him to take over the host body and kill the original soul and mind. Ending up sharing a body was an unforeseen outcome with unknown implications, other than that her death would now also result in his death. It was an infuriating and bitter loss, but he shrugged off the defeat and looked to the future. It was far better than still being sealed inside his throne, and now he could find out what the hell Obito had been doing and play his own hand, if needed.

It took some time and was slow going, but digging through the girl's memories eventually yielded valuable information. Madara skimmed through the girl's entire life to get a basic understanding of what had happened while he'd been gone, focusing mostly on Konoha at first while she traveled back to the village. Her early memories were laughable. It disgusted Madara to know what kind of girl he was sealed inside. He'd never had a good opinion of women, being the weak creatures they were, and she was a prime example of that.

The girl he was stuck inside was beyond pathetic and he wasted no time informing her of this fact. She didn't take it very well. Her reaction to learning his identity was fairly amusing, but it did nothing to reign in her short temper. She also lacked respect and that irritated Madara. When she tried to reveal him to that weak mockery of a Hokage, he quickly put his foot down and set some ground rules, enforced with threats to her idiot friends and the village. On a whim, he made a deal with her about sharing her body and keeping his existence secret. He had no qualms about breaking his promises if it benefited him, however.

Even though Madara could just fight her for control, it would be an annoyance to have to constantly crush her will. He knew that she would fight him every step of the way. Konoha brats tended to be like that with their ridiculous "Will of Fire." It would be preferable if she was cooperative. Madara was willing to sacrifice a little bit of his pride for that. Besides, like he told her, he did not plan to be stuck in her weak body for longer than he had to be. She was in agreement with that and wanted him out just as much as he wanted to be free of her. His original plan was to only use a host body temporarily before returning to his own body via Nagato's Rinne Tensei. The seal was designed to allow that resurrection method.

Madara soon came to the realization that it benefited him to remain hidden inside the girl for now. It gave him access to the knowledge she held and he could use the opportunity to scope out the current situation with Obito's progress. Had his seal worked properly, he wouldn't have gained her memories. Later on in the days that followed, it was easy to connect the strings of the girl's knowledge and figure out what that Uchiha child had done so far. The Akatsuki reeked of the brat's influence and it was clear Obito was using them to collect the bijuu.

However, they were taking far, far too long and were all beyond incompetent. The Kyuubi's Jinchuuriki was walking proof of that. It was a perfect example of why Madara hated leaving tasks to other people unless it was absolutely necessary. At least he figured out why he had not been brought back to life by that brat Nagato yet. It was good that he had enacted the backup plan, even if it had not worked as he fully intended. It at least gave him a method to work towards correcting Obito's mistakes.

After finding out that the Eye of the Moon plan was nowhere near completion, Madara was understandably annoyed and frustrated. He was a patient man though, and had plenty of experience with his plans going awry. He decided to take advantage of being sealed inside the girl, despite the handicaps of no Sharingan, no access to his own chakra, and the disgust of having a female body. He could set things in motion to deliver the Kyuubi to Obito and use Zetsu as a proxy. He was unsure if he wanted to reveal himself to that failure of a brat yet.

The inspiration he got from seeing the Jinchuuriki for the clone loophole was a stroke of genius. He didn't care if it hurt the girl, being able to act without her there was a critical victory. It was a minor annoyance that it took weeks for her to grow strong enough to allow them to be separated for an acceptable amount of time. He amused himself with reading and tormenting her. It was very easy to get her riled up. While he had been genuinely irritated with her when he was first sealed in her body, it eventually became entertainment to push her buttons and set her off. His record was twelve seconds.

Madara still laughed to himself about her oh so noble decision to become his jailer, despite her previous desire to remove him as soon as possible. When the timing was right, he would leave her body, whether she wanted him to or not. But for now, he had work to do in Konoha. She seemed to think it was her duty to keep an eye on him. He knew she was leaving clones to guard the exits to her apartment when she left for her job in the hospital. It was simple to sneak by them and traverse the village in his younger form. Henge was such a useful jutsu.

At the first opportunity, Madara left the village while the brat was at work. He intended to contact Zetsu and establish a line of communication. While it was simple to avoid the guards and get outside the walls, he had barely gone a hundred yards away when his body collapsed, a sharp pain straining his chest. It grew worse every step he took away from the village and he was forced to turn back, much to his displeasure. Madara quickly deduced that it was the seal causing the pain and that there was a limit to the distance he could be from the girl. It was a frustrating drawback to the clone trick.

Unable to leave the village, Madara spent time instead learning the Anbu patrol routes, scouting for holes in the village's defense, and watching the Kyuubi's Jinchuuriki. It turns out the fox brat was possibly even more pathetic than the girl. Both were also incredibly naive. It was mind boggling the level of faith they had in the village. He was aware the girl had little knowledge of the history of corruption in Konoha. Discovering the truth about the Uchiha massacre, and he knew there was more to it than what she had told him, had become a side project to eventually work on. He had, quite generously in his opinion, given her the correct version of the village's history, but she had been very disrespectful.

Madara had also attempted to explain a little bit of his goal of creating a better world full of peace and winners to her. He refused to indulge her too much though, as he was still somewhat annoyed with the level of her naivety. She eventually dropped the topic, but he knew she had not forgotten it. She had picked up hints of Obito's existence too. Not that it would do her any good. She seemed to alternate between trying to get along with him, much to his amusement, and blowing up in a rage. Teenage girls were strange creatures.

He really did not understand why she got so upset when she found out he had seen her naked. He had lived a long time and didn't concern himself with that sort of thing anymore. He never had been too interested in it, really. She made such a fuss about it that he ended up having to threaten her. The girl could be such an annoying little brat. She even had the gall to demand an apology from him. Of course he refused on principle and taunted her about it.

She surprised him that day, though, when she declared that she'd never give up no matter how many times he humiliated her and outsmarted her. Madara could tell from the look in her eyes that she meant it. He knew from her past, having dug through all her memories by that point, that she wasn't just spouting bullshit words. She had backed up her statement even before sharing her body with him. He grudgingly admitted that he could sympathize with her... just a bit. He was in the same boat with the Eye of the Moon plan. He would never give up on that.

That was the day she got promoted from the "worthless, weak woman" category to "not bad." He deemed her good enough to actually use her name. She was still weak, but she did have some guts, especially when she stood up to him. Sakura seemed to understand the small positive shift in his opinion of her, but was smart enough to not talk about it. It worked out in his favor. She became a bit more tolerable to be around, but also more confident in her actions. Not a bad thing, since that ended up with him getting his hair brushed. He secretly enjoyed that experience, though he'd die before admitting it to anyone.

One thing he did have to admit is that he was surprised and shocked when he found out that her blonde friend knew of him, even if it was a lie. Secret boyfriend indeed. Disgusting. Madara had finally managed to contact Zetsu after sensing him outside the village. They met in the empty Uchiha compound and discussed the current status of the Eye of the Moon plan. Nagato being crippled was unexpected, but it didn't matter. He had gained enough control over the Rinnegan to cast Rinne Tensei whenever needed. Obito was posing as a member of the Akatsuki and manipulating matters behind the scenes. Zetsu assured him that the collection of the bijuu was actually progressing well. It turns out that they had only recently started sealing the beasts, and that it had taken some years for Obito to gather enough shinobi make any headway on their plan.

Madara, of course, was exasperated once again with how incompetent the brat was. After briefly talking it over, he decided to keep his existence from Obito for now and use Zetsu to keep tabs on the situation. They would coordinate the best time and method to capture and extract the Kyuubi. Madara's resurrection would have to wait until later, since using Rinne Tensei in his current state would likely kill Nagato, and the redheaded brat was still useful. While not ideal, Madara was satisfied that at least he now had some control over the plan again. He was confident that it would happen faster and with less setbacks than if he had just let Obito handle it.

He had barely finished talking to Zetsu when Sakura stormed in on him. The following encounter with her blonde friend was bizarre, to say the least. But also incredibly amusing. Madara took full advantage of the moment, despite his initial revulsion, to torment the girl. It was too good of an opportunity to pass up. The most interesting thing to come from that afternoon was the revelation that Sakura had been keeping secrets from him. It was quite impressive, if Madara was honest with himself. He had not detected the mental jutsu at all. It did not bother him if she wanted to keep some moments from him. The seal he had placed on her tongue guaranteed she wouldn't be talking about him, and if she did try to hide something important from him, he would find out. He could read her body language like an open book.

Even if, by some odd fluke, she did manage to deceive him about something critical, it wouldn't matter in the end. All that mattered was the completion of the Eye of the Moon plan. And that, Madara would make happen. No matter the cost.


	21. Deja Vu

**A/N: **Thanks for the reviews: Anon guest, Amy, Of Healing Love, AMidnightSilhouette, Valedicktorian, The Imperfect Me, Musical cake, and MadaMada. Anon guest, everyone is a brat to Madara, lol. He's old. But yeah, I try to vary words if I can. Sometimes there's no getting around it though. Glad everyone enjoyed seeing Madara's perspective. Valedicktorian, I'm pushing them as fast as I think I can. They're sort of getting along now, even if there's still some bad feelings lingering. I've thrown a couple bones with the hair brushing, naked incident, and Madara tormenting her in front of Ino. I also need to deal with Sakura's feelings for Sasuke, which will be starting next chapter (Sasuke/Itachi arc).

I've dropped a couple hints in previous author notes about the war arc and EotM plan but I really don't want to spoil what I have planned. I will say that once Madara gets Edo Tensei'd things are going to be totally different than how it happened in the manga. I will be kicking the plot into gear here now. I feel like I've devoted enough chapters to build the foundations of their relationship, and the rest can be developed during canon events. Oh yeah, and I'll be taking minor liberties with canon details as needed until the war arc (nothing big, just things like which character approaches another for whatever reason, alterations to lines, how a fight involving Sakura proceeds, and whatnot).

_Sakura speaking to Madara in her mind._

**Madara speaking to Sakura in her mind.**

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><p><strong>-Deja Vu-<strong>

It was nearing noon and Sakura was only just eating breakfast. She had briefly woken up in the early morning and obliged Madara's request to split into a clone, then fallen asleep again afterwards. It was nice to have a day off sometimes. Her thoughts drifted from her recent, and still very weird in her opinion, interactions with Madara to the dream she had last night. She had seen the conversation the young Uchiha had with Hashirama about creating a village.

She had also learned that Madara had lost all but one of his brothers, leaving him with an intense desire to protect the remaining one. That had been a huge factor in his dream to create a place where he could watch over his sibling. Hashirama was probably in the same boat. She felt bad for them both. It must be terrible to lose a brother or sister. Hopefully she'd have another dream soon that would yield more information about Madara's brother. She had a feeling it was really important.

Sakura mindlessly pushed her half-eaten scrambled eggs around her plate. She couldn't figure out exactly where she stood with Madara right now. While she was still mad about him seeing her naked and not exactly happy about all the teasing and torment he put her through, it lacked the maliciousness that was there in the beginning and it had taken on a feeling of normality, though he was still a bastard for doing it. They definitely weren't friends and she was still committed to protecting her friends and Konoha from him, and did not trust him. She was always aware of the threat he posed. Yet...

"Don't play with your food," Madara snapped, and whacked her over the head with a rolled up newspaper.

Sakura snarled and jabbed her fork at him, "Don't hit me! I'll finish it when I damn well want to." She took another bite of food while glaring daggers at him.

"Make sure you do. Think of all the starving children in the world. You're the type to care about that, am I correct?" Madara smirked at her as he walked back into the kitchen.

"If your ego was food it'd be big enough to feed every hungry person in the world three times a day for ten years," Sakura yelled after him. There was no reply but the sound of amused laughter. She grumbled to herself and shoveled the rest of the eggs down before bringing her plate to the kitchen. Madara had moved to the living room and was sitting in his usual place on the couch, reading today's news.

She was debating about going to harass him about the many unanswered questions he still owed her explanations for, when the doorbell rang. Sakura answered it to find Naruto standing before her.

"Hi Sakura!" He greeted her with a smile, "Can I come in? We haven't seen each other lately so I want to catch up before we have to go."

She blinked, "Uh, go where? And we can just talk out here. No need to come in." She wanted to keep him away from Madara. Far, far away from Madara.

Naruto pouted, "Aw, you're so mean! How come you don't want to invite me in? I smell food. Have you been cooking? I'm kind of hungry so..."

"Don't worry about it, Naruto. The food's already gone. Now, what do you mean about going somewhere? We can chat on the way," Sakura said, feeling a little bit guilty. It was true that they hadn't hung out much recently, and he was a good friend.

"She doesn't want you to come in because she's trying to hide her secret boyfriend," the voice of Madara's younger form called from the other room. Sakura's eyes widened in horror and she stuttered incomprehensibly. That bastard! She absolutely did not want a repeat performance of what happened with Ino. No fucking thank you.

Naruto looked incredibly surprised for a moment, and then much to Sakura's dread, a sly foxy grin spread across his face. "Ohhh, now I get it. I guess you're over Sasuke then? I know he's our friend but he was still a jerk to you."

"No no no, there's nothing to get, Naruto!" she panicked, in full damage control mode. The mention of Sasuke's name twisted her heart a bit. She still had feelings for him, even though she tried to not think about it. Naruto wasn't the type to tip-toe around more sensitive topics.

Footsteps strolled up from behind her and Madara appeared off to her side. Naruto blinked when he caught sight of the Uchiha. "He's uh... kind of young, Sakura." She facepalmed and sighed, frustrated that once again Madara was being a dick and making everything worse. Was it really that hard to just stay quiet and out of the way? Really?!

"I know, Naruto. It's fine. Let's just go," she made to push Naruto backwards so that she could shut the door.

"Hang on!" her friend protested, resisting the manhandling, "How come you've never told me about him? It's not nice to keep stuff like this from your friends, ya know? What's your name?" he directed the last part to Madara.

"Tajima," the Uchiha in disguise replied. He looked like he was greatly enjoying Sakura's obvious unhappiness with the situation. She glared at him over her shoulder, not that it actually did anything but make him smirk even more. She did not like the way he kept eyeing Naruto either.

"Nice to meet ya! I'm Naruto Uzumaki! Has Sakura told you about me? How come she's kept your relationship a secret?" he dodged another attempt of pushing him out the door.

"Yes of course, she's told me all about you," Madara said as he leaned casually against the wall, "As for your other question, I'm sure you know how overprotective she is."

Naruto laughed and nodded, "I sure do! Hey, Sakura, have you guys kissed yet?"

"Naruto!" Sakura shrieked, and thumped him on his head. She'd had enough, damn it! Going through this bullshit with Ino once was enough for her.

Madara chuckled as Naruto whined and rubbed his head, "Interesting... that girl, the Yamanaka, asked the exact same question."

"Ehh?! Sakura, you told Ino but not me?" her blonde friend looked upset at the revelation. This did nothing to help her frustration.

"I didn't have much of a choice," she grumbled, barely keeping herself from lashing out, "And that's besides the point. Let's just go, Naruto." She grabbed him arm and towed him back out the door.

"Hang on, you didn't answer me!" he protested, struggling against her, "Have you guys kissed? Sakura! Stop! Come on, tell me! I want to know!"

"Why does everyone care so much about that?!" she shrieked, finally losing any sort of control on her temper. She was just about ready to beat them both into the ground.

"All the time," Madara said in response to Naruto. He had a shit-eating grin on his face now. She knew from how he initially reacted to finding out about his secret boyfriend status that the idea of that sort of thing disgusted him, and it was revolting to her too. Just picturing it made her want to vomit... only, that wasn't what she was feeling. She frowned as a strange sensation settled in her chest. Kissing Madara... his dark eyes... brush of hair on her face... what would...

No.

Stop.

Enough.

As her face flushed, Sakura snarled and slammed the door, barely missing hitting the Uchiha, who stepped back out of the way just in time. "It's not very nice to treat your boyfriend like that, Sakura," Naruto told her.

"Shut. Up. Let's go," she growled, still blushing from her stupid imagination. Stupid, stupid imagination. It took her a few minutes of dragging Naruto through the streets before she calmed down enough to take notice of his protests. Slowing her pace, she turned to him and asked, "Where are we going?"

"Tsunade-bachaan wants to see us both," he said, eyeing her warily. Naruto had experienced her temper enough times before to know not to push it about what had happened back at her apartment.

"Okay," Sakura said, "Hokage's office, then." With that, she and Naruto continued to head towards their destination. A moment later, Madara's presence appeared in her mind. He had released the clone.

'_You're really immature for an old man,_' she told him. '_Seriously, you act like you're five._'

Madara snorted, '**And you're far too uptight for someone so young. Learn to loosen up.**'

"Uh, you okay, Sakura?" Naruto's voice interrupted her and she realized that her teeth were bared in a silent snarl.

"Yeah, I'm fine," she muttered, schooling her expression back to normal, though she was unable to fight back an annoyed twitch of her eye as she felt a wave of amusement from the Uchiha.

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><p><strong>Next Chapter:<strong> Sakura and Naruto get some critical news and a mission from Tsunade. Madara is intrigued.


	22. Calm Before the Storm

**A/N:** Thanks for the reviews: Valedicktorian, Of Healing Love, AMidnightSilhouette, Musical cake, Amy, TeenageCrisis, miemae04, and mshccs! No hard feelings or anything like that, Valedicktorian. I hope I explained thoroughly enough. Unless Madara makes it clear to Sakura, we won't know exactly how he feels until the next recap chapter, Of Healing Love. She'll have to start getting over Sasuke, and her attraction (though she denies it) to Madara will help in that regard. Yes, AMidnightSilhouette, Madara will be making sassy remarks about Sasuke and forcing her to really think about it. As for the timeline, I said in chapter one that it started after the Hidan/Kakuzu mission and before the Itachi one. This chapter starts the hunt for Sasuke and Itachi. Huzzah plot progression!

_Sakura speaking to Madara in her mind._

**Madara speaking to Sakura in her mind.**

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><p><strong>-Calm Before the Storm-<strong>

Sakura stood next to Naruto, her face mirroring the shock that her friend wore. They were both in the Hokage's room with Tsunade-shishou, who was sitting at her desk, and Jiraiya, who stood next to her. "Really...?" Naruto stuttered in disbelief. She couldn't believe it either. This news was beyond surprising.

"It's definitely true. My most reliable sources confirmed it," Jiraiya replied. Sakura felt her eyes start to tear up. If it was true then... then Sasuke would finally be coming home! The fact that she'd been unable to save him and stop him from leaving the village had been eating away at her for years. She had been weak back then, forced to rely on Naruto, who had promised to bring Sasuke back to them. Her heart ached at the thought of their lost teammate. With Orochimaru dead, there was nothing keeping him in Sound. Only...

As her joy began to fade, inside her mind, Madara snorted, '**Honestly. Don't be so naive. You know fully well that he won't be coming back, not with his brother still alive.**' It irritated her that the older Uchiha had gone through all her memories, especially the ones regarding her feelings for Sasuke, but that didn't make him any less right. Even if Sasuke had killed Orochimaru and was now safe from that disgusting snake, with Itachi alive, he would be pursuing revenge.

Naruto laughed, throwing his arms behind his head with a huge grin on his face, "I knew that freak wouldn't be able to take Sasuke down! So Sasuke's coming back to Konoha now, right? Right?" Sakura glanced at her friend, already feeling bad about the disappointment he was about to suffer.

Tsunade-shishou said nothing, casting her eyes down and frowning. She must already know that Sasuke wouldn't be returning. The Toad Sage shook his head and said, "Doesn't look like it." Naruto's hopeful look slowly faded into shock and confusion.

"What the hell do you mean? Why not? How could he not come back now that Orochimaru's gone?!" Naruto yelled, frustration seeping into his tone. Sakura shot her friend a sympathetic look, but he was too worked up to notice.

The Hokage stood up and in an effort to calm Naruto down, patiently explained, "Sasuke is obsessed with getting revenge." She shared an unreadable glance with the man next to her.

Picking up where Tsunade-shishou had left off, Jiraiya added, "He'll try to find the Akatsuki so he can kill his brother Itachi." Madara had remained silent in her head since his previous comment, but Sakura could feel his keen interest in the conversation. Just another thing to worry about. She let out a quiet sigh, then refocused on the matter at hand.

Naruto growled in anger, "That bastard again... damn him! Shit!" Sakura personally had to agree. If Itachi wasn't in the picture, Sasuke wouldn't have left in the first place. Her friend continued, clearly on a roll, "We need to form a platoon and move out right now! The mission to hunt down the Akatsuki is still going on, right?" The Hokage nodded in reply to Naruto's question. "To get to Sasuke, we need to go after the member of the Akatsuki we've got the best chance of finding! In other words, we need to find-"

Sakura's eyes widened as it clicked. "Itachi Uchiha..." she gasped, interrupting her friend without meaning to do so. Naruto looked over at her, fierce determination shining on his face.

"Yeah... to find Sasuke, we need to hunt down Itachi," he said. Sakura was fairly impressed with how quickly Naruto had come to that conclusion. He could be really dumb at times, but he certainly had his moments where he was right on the ball. His plan made perfect sense. They just had to find the person Sasuke was looking for, and they would eventually run into their teammate. Then they could take him home.

'**And how do you expect to find either of them?**' Madara interrupted, ever eager to rain on her parade. '**The Jinchuuriki has the right idea, but both of them are Uchiha. It won't be that easy.**' She frowned at his words, but again he was correct. However, more importantly...

'_His name is Naruto,_' Sakura replied, ignoring the exasperated huff that echoed in her mind. She almost rolled her eyes, but remembered that she wasn't alone right now and it would be an odd reaction in this situation.

Thinking quickly, taking into consideration the point that Madara had made and elaborating on Naruto's idea, Sakura suggested, "If we can just capture one member of the Akatsuki, we can turn them over to Ibiki-san, and let him extract whatever information he can get." Hopefully that would give them a lead to Itachi's location.

"I did order each squadron from the previous mission to make every effort to take members of the Akatsuki alive if they encountered any," Tsunade-shishou answered, looking out the window over Konoha. The weather was growing cloudy, a sign of an approaching storm. Sakura quickly realized she was referring to the fight involving Hidan and Kakuzu. Both of them had ended up dead without revealing anything useful. Well... one of them dead, the other in bits buried in a forest.

"Unfortunately, they're not very easy to talk to," a voice said from behind them. Sakura and Naruto turned around to see Kakashi-sensei leaning on the doorframe. Their masked teacher continued, "If you look at our previous encounters with them, capturing them was either too dangerous or not an option."

"Then what are we supposed to do?!" Naruto barked, once again frustrated. Sakura frowned to herself, a bit upset that her idea was quickly being torn apart. She couldn't think of an alternative plan, though, and what her teacher said next confirmed it.

"Well, the only thing we can do is try our best to find Itachi, right?" Kakashi-sensei said, walking further into the room to stand next to Naruto.

"So you want to hunt down Itachi in order to find Sasuke. Let's say you actually find him. What are you going to do then?" Jiraiya asked, bringing up a very good point. What could they do if they actually found the elder Uchiha brother?

"If we kill Itachi..." Sakura said, voicing her racing thoughts, "Sasuke will no longer have a target..." She didn't need to say that he would be a lot harder to find and bring back to Konoha without bait. Even Naruto would know that. "So... our only choice is to capture him." Ignoring Madara's amused laugh at the idea, because god forbid an Uchiha ever be captured, she carried on, "And to do that, we'll need to have several platoons deployed at the same time." With more shinobi on the lookout for Itachi, they'd have an easier time finding him and a far better chance at actually taking him alive.

"Exactly," Kakashi-sensei agreed, his approval making Sakura smile. "Although in reality, one team of two platoons would be ideal. When you've only got one or two people to apprehend, having three or more teams makes it easier for them to spot you, and the chain of command starts getting complex." Leave if to her Sensei to think of all the details. Naruto was looking more hopefully now too.

"Plus, you need a lot more technique to capture someone than you do to kill them," Jiraiya chimed in, "Communication is vital, so you'll want a squad that's been on a lot of missions together."

"I agree. In fact, I've already picked a team that's been on a lot of missions together," Kakashi-sensei said, then turned towards to door and called out, "Come in, everyone." Sakura blinked in surprise, but in hindsight, she really shouldn't be that shocked. Her Sensei was always a few steps ahead of the game. She couldn't help but feel confident that Itachi would be found as Kiba, Akamaru, Hinata, Shino, Sai, and Yamato-sensei entered the room. Naruto shared a huge grin with her.

'**Getting your hopes up too soon only leads to disappointment**,' Madara pointed out. She was feeling too good about everything to be brought down right now, though.

'_Oh be quiet,_' Sakura snapped, '_Just you wait and see. We'll find Itachi and bring Sasuke home._' The Uchiha remained silent while the team made preparations to leave as soon as possible. It had started to rain, but that wouldn't stop them. Hooded coats took care of that problem.

'**Do you remember what I told you weeks ago?**' he finally asked as they approached Konoha's front gate.

'_What are you talking about?_' Sakura grumbled, torn between her conversation with Madara and noting Kakashi's comment about the bad weather. When the mission really got started she was going to have to ignore the Uchiha and concentrate. Hopefully he behaved and didn't cause any trouble.

'**This world is full of things that don't go the way you want. Do not be surprised when this mission fails**,' he said. Sakura was about to bite back with a snarky reply, but stopped. Why was she suddenly feeling doubt, even if it was a tiny shred of it?

No...

She shook her head, regaining the confidence that her friends had inspired. '_You're wrong, Madara. I'll prove it. Just watch._'

'**Hn... we'll see**,' was all he said before settling in the back of her mind. Sakura was a bit worried that he was going to try something during this search for Itachi, but she was sure she could handle it. She had to. She had no choice in the matter. She absolutely refused to fail herself, Naruto, her friends, her village... and Sasuke.

The hunt was on.

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><p><strong>Next Chapter:<strong> Sakura searches for Sasuke. Madara questions her devotion to the young Uchiha. Also starring: an explosion and a man in an orange mask.


	23. Second Thoughts

**A/N:** Thanks for the reviews: Sunbattle, mshccs, Of Healing Love, Gal Can't Help It, Valedicktorian, anon guest, Goddess OF Deaths, Amy, AMidnightSilhouette, Musical cake, GoldenPiggy, and The Imperfect Me. Yeah, Of Healing Love, sometimes chapters like the previous one are needed to just advance the plot. I'm giving a lot of thought to how Madara's presence will change things, especially with the upcoming confrontation. I actually decided to push the fight with Tobi to next chapter so I can do a better job with it. Madara knows Obito is posing as Tobi from his brief talk with Zetsu, but he's not expecting the goofy persona lol.

This chapter might feel a little short (it's actually not, though it was also a bitch to write), but I've felt like shit the whole weekend. Still managed to get an update out at least, and I needed to push Sakura into doubting her feelings for Sasuke. Hopefully I handled it okay. Also going to cut down on writing canon dialogue and summarize good chunks of it unless I need to go into the details of it for whatever reason.

_Sakura speaking to Madara in her mind._

**Madara speaking to Sakura in her mind.**

* * *

><p><strong>-Second Thoughts-<strong>

Sakura was now officially out of range for her wireless headset to be of any use. She'd have to rely solely on Kakashi-sensei's ninja dogs for communication with the rest of the team. She had two of them flanking her as she slowly and carefully made her way through the small village, keeping an eye out for any sign of Sasuke. The dogs had picked up a faint trace of the Uchiha's scent and they'd followed it into town. If they found their target, the hounds would immediately report to the others and the entire team would converge together.

Frowning, she glanced down at one of the ninja dogs and whispered, "Well?" The street was crawling with people so she made sure to keep her voice down.

"The scent's still not that strong, but we're definitely getting closer," he replied, keeping his nose to the ground. A few seconds later, his ears perked up and he said, "Wait! They're nearby!" Sakura sharpened her focus, her eyes scanning the crowd for Sasuke, only to be disappointed when the dog growled, "Shoot... lost it." She suppressed a sigh, annoyed that she'd gotten her hopes up.

"Keep trying," she told the dogs. She really wanted to find Sasuke and bring him back home, and prove Madara wrong. It would be awesome to be able to rub his face in it.

'**Unlikely, though if you want to be foolish and delude yourself, go right ahead**,' the elder Uchiha commented on her last thought. '**You tried to bring him back once before, didn't you? But he tried to kill you, your idiot Jinchuuriki friend, and the rest of your team. Face it, he doesn't want to return to Konoha and clearly does not care enough about your past bonds to even possibly consider it. If I recall your memory correctly, he said that the only thing he cared about was killing his brother.**'

Sakura's frown turned into a minor scowl, '_We'll find Sasuke and help him kill Itachi if we have to. Then he can come home._'

Madara sighed, '**You don't understand where he's coming from. He won't want your help with his revenge.**'

'_And what makes you the authority on what Sasuke wants, huh?_' she huffed, still careful to keep an eye on her surroundings while she argued with the Uchiha.

'**You have never lost a family member, let alone an entire clan. The hatred and scars from a sorrow like that never fade. His desire for vengeance defines him. Should you try to interfere with or prevent the fight with his brother, he might even turn that anger towards you**,' he explained, humoring her for the moment. She knew he had no obligation to elaborate for her, so she needed to take advantage of this opportunity.

Although what he was saying pissed her off, Sakura paused to think before replying to him. She remembered the dream she had where Madara had admitted to the young Hashirama that he'd lost three of his brothers. That, and the betrayal from his clan and village must have haunted him for ages and driven him to repeatedly attack Konoha until his supposed death. She grudgingly acknowledged that he could maybe understand Sasuke's viewpoint regarding revenge better than she could, but still, she knew her teammate, had fought along side him, grown close to him, and had fallen for him. '_Maybe you're right, but Naruto and I formed strong bonds with Sasuke. Once Itachi is dead, regardless of how that goes down, he can come home with us. We can spend time with him and become a team again._'

The Uchiha sighed again in exasperation, '**Sakura, that isn't going to happen. He cut ties to the past, and he cut his ties with you. He doesn't care about you and forcing him to do something he doesn't want, whether that be returning to the village or pushing your ridiculous feelings onto him, will only end badly and have the opposite effect of what you intend. Denying this is foolish and serves no purpose.**'

Sakura clenched her fists and grit her teeth, '_Shut up._' It hurt... her heart hurt. She had lost count of how many times she'd cried herself to sleep over Sasuke, and Madara was bringing up the pain she always tried to keep buried inside her while she told herself over and over that once her teammate was home, everything would be okay. She rubbed her eyes, fighting back the tears that threatened to fall.

Disregarding her obvious heartache, Madara continued, '**Really, I won't pretend to even remotely understand the inane workings of the mind of a teenage girl, but part of you must realize that when looking back on your relationship with him, he shows no signs of reciprocating your interest. At best he felt friendship with you before he deserted Konoha. Afterwards, well, I believe that part is obvious, hm? Why do you cling to him? There's no reason to keep holding on to past feelings.**'

'_You don't get it, Madara,_' Sakura said, her tone frustrated beyond belief, '_And it's hard to explain, especially to you, but I've always admired Sasuke, and when I got to know him better during our time together, I saw how brave and strong he was. It might have started off as a crush because I thought he was cool, but it grew into love. He went through so much, and I want to be there for him, to stand by him so he's never alone again, to make him happy and smile everyday. I can understand his desire for revenge... he just needs to see that Naruto and I will always care about him too. He doesn't need to cut us off. If we could only talk to him and reconnect..._' She trailed off and wiped her eyes again.

She felt a mental eyeroll from the Uchiha. '**Alright, let's say your feelings are legitimate. Do you know how arrogant you sound? All I am hearing is that you want to save this boy from being lost on a supposedly dark path**,' he sneered. '**Is that what defines a healthy relationship? Do you actually care for him as he is, or do you just want to save him to feel good about yourself? You obviously do not know or understand who he is right now, so all I am left to believe is that you have some sort of savior complex that fixates you on him. You don't actually love him, you only love the idea of saving him. He didn't care enough about you to not leave the village or return to it, he tried to kill you, and he never once made the effort to get to know you in exchange. Is that what you want? To give and not receive? In the very slight chance he does rejoin Konoha, what makes you think anything would change? He's rejected you repeatedly. Let go of him, he's not worth your time.**' Madara paused, then snorted, '**I can't believe I'm giving relationship advice to a little girl...**'

Sakura's knees felt weak and she was trembling under the weight of Madara's words. She stumbled to a nearby bench, ignoring the questions from the ninja dogs, sitting down and burying her face in her hands to hide the tears streaming down her cheeks. She told herself over and over that he wasn't right, that he didn't know Sasuke the way she did... but then why did her heart feel like it was breaking all over again? It hurt so much, and although she tried to deny it, she felt deep down a part of her agreed with the bitter rant that the Uchiha had just unloaded in her head. Her ears were ringing and her mind was blank, the ability to form any sort of rational thought drowned out in pain. Was she really that shallow? She did want to save Sasuke, but she loved him because she knew him... right? It wasn't just because she wanted to make him happy... Sakura shuddered hard, hating the way she felt and hating herself and hating Madara... Bile rose in her throat and she swallowed hard.

'**Pull yourself together. It's pathetic**,' Madara snapped, pushing her aside to take control of her body. The tears immediately stopped and he stood up again, glancing at the dogs and giving them a reply, "Nothing's wrong. I'm fine, let's go." He let Sakura wallow in the back of her mind, engulfed in heartache after being forced to confront reality regarding Sasuke. She barely paid any attention to what Madara was doing with her body, losing track of time as she slowly regained control of her feelings and quelled her pain. It helped to focus on her friends and the mission at hand, remembering that she promised to not let them down. It still hurt, but not nearly as much. She didn't want to think about Sasuke or her feelings for him anymore. Being numb was a lot more preferable. She was done being totally pathetic. It was a disgrace how badly she fell apart. She disgusted herself sometimes...

She only really snapped out of it when she felt a shock of surprise from the Uchiha, looking out their shared eyes to see a huge explosion of light in the distance. '_What is that...?_' she asked, not really expecting a reply. Madara ignored her and took off, heading towards the diminishing explosion. She didn't bother trying to fight for control of her body, still feeling drained and just down and out of it in general. Might as well just let the Uchiha do the work for her, as long as she kept an eye on him, it should be okay.

Soon the entire team met up in front of a large crater in the ground, with Naruto wondering aloud what had happened. Madara spoke through her mouth, informing them that Sasuke's scent trail had led here. Sakura was a bit surprised that he was being cooperative, but guessed that he wanted to see the mission through to prove to her that he was right about Sasuke. It would be like kicking her while she was down, however he'd done similar things before. She watched on from her seat in the back of her head as the team figured out Sasuke was traveling with other people, and that he'd battled Akatsuki members here. The scent disappeared at the crater, but Kiba was able to pick it up and locate the Uchiha.

The team set off and traveled in formation through the forest, with Kiba in the lead. When the scent targets split up, Naruto created a multitude of shadow clones to search the entire area while the others remained together. It wasn't long before one of the clones found Sasuke and Naruto moved to the front to lead them to where their teammate had killed the clone. With every minute that passed, Sakura was slowly feeling better, and the sighting of Sasuke reignited the hope inside her, although there was still a blanket of numb wariness hovering over all thoughts about him. She did want to prove Madara wrong, but she now had serious doubts about what the outcome of this mission would be. Naruto, however, had fire in his eyes. She felt guilty that again the burden was all on his shoulders. She didn't think she could fully commit to Sasuke anymore.

When they reached a large clearing, the team stopped at the presence of an Akatsuki member wearing an orange swirly mask. He was standing on the thick branch of a tall tree. His appearance was bizarre and confusing, but what bothered Sakura even more was Madara's reaction, a slight quirk of his lips... well, they were her lips actually... he was still in control of her body, and a suppressed chuckle. Did the Uchiha know this person...? That question alone was enough for Sakura to fully push aside her feelings and completely refocus on the task at hand.

"Wow, I didn't think I'd find a bunch of Konoha shinobi way out here... and it's eight on one! That's so not fair!" the man called down to them while he scratched the back of his head in a sheepish manner.

Sakura poked Madara for control, but he refused to hand it over despite her insistence. '**I'll take this one. Hn, this should be interesting...**' he said. The small smirk turned into a grin, and the Uchiha's amusement flooded her mind.

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><p><strong>Next Chapter:<strong> Sakura is suspicious. Madara has some fun. Tobi is also suspicious!


	24. Window of Opportunity

**A/N:** Thanks for the reviews: GoldenPiggy, la canelle, Funnie, Kaelin, Rain Dove, Valedicktorian, cutehoney4, anon guest, Of Healing Love, Gal Can't Help It, anon guest number two, and Amy. The previous chapter marks the first time I got random anon hate (not you Kaelin, three anon reviews all within like fifteen minutes of each other right after I submitted the chapter) bitching about the MadaSaku pairing. I deleted them because they weren't relevant criticism. If you don't like the pairing, don't read, is all I can say, I guess? If you were trying to upset me, sorry, didn't work. Fun fact: I don't even actually truly ship MadaSaku, so telling me I suck for writing it doesn't bother me lol. If I ship Madara with anyone it would be Hashirama. I'll actually be hinting at (unacted upon, possibly one-sided) MadaHashi later on, though it's not going to impact the plot and pairing of this story in any way, just add some deeper subtext or whatnot. The reason this story is MadaSaku is because I think it's a fun challenge to write it and do it well, and I want to create my own ending to Naruto.

Anyways, Kaelin, sorry if it seems one-sided. I've been trying to throw Sakura bones whenever I can without breaking character. If I was being super realistic, she'd probably already be dead or permanently suppressed inside her own mind. I'm not going to go all grrrrl power just for the sake of it. I hope I did a good enough job with Tobi this chapter. I spent days coming up with possible viable strategies for Madara to use, and man was that hard with Tobi's bullshit space-time eye powers lol. The definition of hax op-ness. I ended up settling on the only options that I could actually work with. Forgive any spelling and grammar mistakes, por favor. Longer chapter than usual.

_Sakura speaking to Madara in her mind._

**Madara speaking to Sakura in her mind.**

* * *

><p><strong>-Window of Opportunity-<strong>

"He's not in the list of the Akatsuki that Kabuto left behind," Kakashi-sensei noted quietly as the team stared down their masked opponent, who was still watching them from his perch on a thick tree branch. While tracking Sasuke, he had filled them all in on what had happened during the brief confrontation with Kabuto. Sakura had not been happy at all to hear that even a shred of Orochimaru still existed.

Despite the attempt to keep his voice down, the Akatsuki member picked up on what Kakashi-sensei said. "Oh, that's because I'm new! Nice to meet you!" he yelled at them.

After Kiba barked a threat at the masked man, Kakashi-sensei gave an order. "Don't make any sudden moves and just observe him for now. He's severely outnumbered... we've got the advantage here."

"You're not taking me seriously? Not cool!" the unnamed man whined. Although Sakura was somewhat baffled with the Akatsuki member's behavior, she knew better than to underestimate him. It was annoying that whenever they got close to Sasuke, something like this always happened.

She noticed Madara was subtly keeping an eye on the area above the masked man, and the reason why suddenly made itself apparent. One of Naruto's clones charged down with a Rasengan and yelled, "Get out of our fucking way!" The attack looked like a direct hit and the man even screamed, but much to Sakura's surprise, Naruto's clone almost... slipped through the Akatsuki member, and their enemy was still standing, clearly unharmed. He must have faked the pain from the supposed blow.

'_What the hell...?_' she muttered in confusion. '_You saw that too, right? How is that even possible?_' The real Naruto jumped up to launch a follow up attack, but the man kicked him back into the clone and they both crashed into the nearby river, a puff of smoke signaling the clone's death.

'**Space-time ninjutsu**,' Madara answered. Even though it was a simple explanation, Sakura understood the dire implications of such techniques. She had read about the Fourth Hokage's Flying Thunder God Jutsu, however it was a lesser known fact that the Second was the one who had actually invented that technique. Naruto, soaking wet, rejoined the rest of the group.

'_If that's the reason he can let attacks slip through his body... how do we even combat that?_' Sakura asked, now anxious and worried about Naruto, and it looked like Hinata shared her concern. This guy was obviously just messing around with them, and he was probably a lot stronger than he let on.

Madara sighed, his tone mildly annoyed, '**To fight a shinobi that uses space-time techniques, you must also use similar abilities, or discover the weakness of the enemy's ninjutsu... although that in itself is usually a challenge**.'

Sakura mentally frowned, considering the Uchiha's words, '_So our best bet is probably Kakashi-sensei?_' Her teacher's Mangekyou Sharingan's ability involved space-time manipulation. She was vaguely aware of the conversation between her teammates and the masked man.

With a laugh, Madara replied, '**More than you know**.' Sakura began to pay more attention to what was going on around her when she heard Yamato-sensei command them to use Formation B. She was supposed to be part of that, and though she currently was not in control of her own body, her head-mate knew all of the formations too. Madara looked over to Naruto, noted his aggravated state, and ordered, "Keep your focus, and come here."

Still, the Uchiha's words bothered her. '_What does that mean?_' Sakura demanded, now suspicious, '_You're hiding secrets from me again, aren't you? Oi! Answer me! We should tell the others... hey!_' Madara ignored her and grabbed Naruto's arm, spinning him around to throw him high in the air, following the plan of attack. Then, instead of following Kiba and Akamaru to attack the masked man, he focused her chakra in her right foot and kicked down, breaking a large chunk of dirt and rock from the ground. After punching the mass of earth up towards their enemy, shattering it into smaller bits in the process, he resumed the attack formation and charged towards the enemy. Sakura was slightly miffed that Madara could manipulate her own chakra so easily, but she was more curious to see what he was planning.

The Akatsuki member easily dodged Kiba, Akamaru, the flying chunks of rock, and even Madara in Sakura's body. Dust clouded the air and limited vision. As Madara's lunge missed, he discreetly grabbed a small chunk of rock and kept it palmed out of sight of the enemy. The rest of the team made their getaway while the selected members provided a distraction. The masked man was almost constantly making retarded quips, which were slowly getting on Sakura's nerves. She was happy to see Naruto come flying down with another Rasengan in hand, the energy ball creating a small explosion and crater as it hit the thick tree branch. She assumed that the enemy had slipped through the attack again.

Sakura was proven right when the masked man burst up from the ground, nailing Naruto with a kick and getting dust in his eyes. Madara had been anticipating this action, and had already sent the small rock flying with chakra enhanced speed. In what seemed like slow motion to Sakura, she watched the stone, hidden by the dust in the air, get closer to the target, and finally actually land a blow on the half of the mask that didn't have an eye-hole right as the kick connected with Naruto. The Akatsuki member was knocked to side, but recovered quickly, turning to stare at Sakura. Madara sent him a taunting smirk, using her face of course, as a tense silence descended. She could feel the suspicion radiating from the enemy, and agreed with the sentiment. Madara knew something that he wasn't sharing. '_How did you manage that so easily...?_' she asked.

'**Every jutsu has a weakness. You just have to find the window of opportunity and strike**,' the Uchiha answered, while picking up another rock and throwing it at the Akatsuki member, but he disappeared underground before it hit. Before Sakura could ask where he had disappeared to, Madara took off in pursuit in the direction that the rest of the team had gone. She realized that the masked man intended to stop the others from escaping, as well as the fact that Madara had found and exploited the weakness in the enemy's jutsu far too quickly to be just a coincidence. Did he... know this guy? It seemed far-fetched, but this whole confrontation was nagging at her suspicions. She couldn't think of any other explanation. Sure, the Uchiha was extremely skilled, but to immediately find the weakness in a jutsu like that...?

Madara caught up to the rest of the team as the Akatsuki member stopped them all with a mockingly silly whack-a-mole... jutsu, however Sakura loathed to even call it that. Naruto, Kiba, and Akamaru joined the group as the masked man taunted them, "Well, well, well! What do you all want to play next?" Although he was addressing them all, Sakura could feel his piercing gaze on her specifically, even if his eye was hidden by the mask. Madara was aware of it too and seemed to be taking a great amount of amusement from it. Yamato-sensei and Kakashi-sensei decided that it was time to get serious. The enemy was obviously not going to let them get by, so it was time for Formation A. Kiba and Akamaru charged forward, followed by Naruto, while Yamato-sensei used Mokuton to send up a barrage of wood from the ground. The masked man dodged the attacking branches and Kiba's Gatsuuga.

This time it was very clear that Naruto's Rasengan was slipping through the Akatsuki member's body. Yamato-sensei managed to catch the man in between two wooden branches, pinning him there until he suddenly disappeared, only to show up hanging upside-down from another tree branch. The masked man formed a seal to counter-attack, but instead once again mocked the team and hung there with his cloak around his head, calling it a Frill-Necked Lizard technique. Sakura felt a burst of annoyance from Madara, leaving her baffled. '_What's bothering you so much?_' she asked, although she didn't really expect a reply.

'**There's a limit to toying with your opponents... a fine line between messing around and acting like a fool. This is disgraceful...**' Madara said, narrowing his eyes at the Akatsuki member. Sakura held her tongue, now even more suspicious. Why would the Uchiha be so bothered by what this guy was doing? She was growing more certain that he personally knew their opponent, and if she played her cards right and didn't outright demand more information, she might get some more clues, or even an actual answer.

The team finally started to realize that all attacks were passing through the Akatsuki member. Shino released his insects to surround the man, and Hinata confirmed his chakra was still in the swarm. Yamato-sensei positioned his Mokuton for a quick attack while Kakashi-sensei kept watch with his Sharingan. After a short moment, the masked man predictably disappeared, leaving the others in shock and trying to piece together how the enemy's technique worked, although they hadn't deduced the correct explanation yet. Despite Sakura's repeated request for Madara to impart the information he knew, he remained silent, instead turning to look up at the Akatsuki member in a tree, picking up his presence before any of the others. Again, she felt the intensity of his stare directly on her. As Hinata noticed the masked man too, he took up the idiot act again, waving at them all.

Kiba, pissed off from being toyed with, attacked with a Tsuuga, although it was easily side-stepped and he crashed through the branch into the ground. Even Madara nearly facepalmed at his incompetence, frowning at the boy in disdain. The team, minus the Uchiha-controlled Sakura, tensed up as a large green plant-thing wriggled up from the branch next to the Akatsuki member. Sakura was keenly aware of Madara's lack of surprise. Glancing at the giant plant-thing, the masked man asked, "How'd it go?"

The pointed leaves parted to reveal a half black, half white torso of a man. In a split voice, he replied, "It's over. Sasuke won, Itachi Uchiha is dead." The Konoha team looked on in shock as the Akatsuki member put on a show of being surprised, before admitting that was the outcome he expected. Sakura noted that his voice changed to a deeper tone, something she was sure her teachers picked up on too. It just confirmed publicly that they were being played with the whole time.

As the team processed the news and the plant-man taunted them about Sasuke's injuries and Naruto yelled back, she noticed that black and white freak giving her a very creepy smile. It set off all her paranoia alarms that practically screamed that there was something more going on than the obvious. Madara didn't react to it, but now she was certain that the masked man and the plant-guy were people that the Uchiha knew. She also had a weird feeling that the creepy one might be aware about Madara. There was no reason for that freak to look at her specifically like that for so long otherwise. It was a leap of logic, but it made sense to her. If she turned out to be wrong about it, then whatever. At the very least, she had two leads on more information about Madara's agenda. She locked her suspicions away in the back of her mind to prevent tipping off the Uchiha.

Sakura's worry for Sasuke's condition only increased her anxiety. It was clear Naruto felt the same. He looked like he was barely holding himself back from attacking. The plant-man started to recede back into the tree branch and the other Akatsuki member called down to them, "I shall continue my fight with you another time." Naruto snarled and Madara sprung forward in Sakura's body, much to her absolute shock, and slammed a chakra-heavy fist into the tree that the masked man was standing on. The thick bark shattered, the tree started to lurch to the side, and the enemy stumbled on the branch, catching himself before staring sharply down at her.

Madara met the glare head on with narrowed eyes. Why was the Uchiha acting this way? There had to be a reason... Sakura stifled a mental gasp when she saw a familiar red and black pattern in the eye-hole of the mask. '_Are you fucking kidding me?! Sharingan?_' This was absolute proof that the Akatsuki member was connected to Madara somehow.

'**Hn... I didn't intend for you to see that, but oh well...**' the Uchiha muttered, mostly to himself, confirming Sakura's conclusion. He let out an annoyed huff when the masked man disappeared for the final time. '**At least I shook him up a bit... If I ever catch that brat fooling around like that again...**' he trailed off and a wave of irritation flooded their shared minds.

Sakura was torn between wanting to badger Madara with questions, despite knowing that doing so would only piss him off more and was a bad idea, and immediately setting off to find Sasuke. Without warning, she was passed control of her body and nearly stumbled as she steadied her legs. Kakashi-sensei snapped the team out of their shock and yelled, "We have to get to Sasuke before them!" With that, they took off in a race to rescue the downed Uchiha.

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><p><strong>Next Chapter:<strong> Sakura struggles with disappointment. Madara takes the opportunity to enforce a lesson.


	25. Letting Go

**A/N:** Thanks for the reviews: Of Healing Love, Goddess OF Deaths, mshccs, Kaelin, Musical cake, anon guests one, two, and three, la canelle, GoldenPiggy, Funnie, Amy, easilyaddictedgirl, and xxdoncrazyxx. Glad everyone liked the Tobi scene. Yes, Amy, that's why Madara was pissed lol. He told Obito to act under his name and then he does... that, rofl. Funnie, Sakura can't speak about anything related to Madara because of the seal on her tongue that he put on her in chapter 11, and since Obito falls under that category, she'd choke up if she tried. Kakashi saw the Sharingan in canon too, so although Sakura can't say anything, the news will get out. Of Healing Love, even though I don't ship MadaSaku, it's still my preferred m/f pairing involving Madara. But yeah, this story started out MadaSaku and it'll end that way, so any implied one-sided MadaHashi that happens won't change that.

Time to address the Sakura drama, oh boy. Kaelin, I agree that Kishi doesn't write her well. I facepalmed at the ending when she actually got together with Sasuke. I never cared about the main character pairings but SasuSaku is just roflwtf man. Anyways, she would be dead as in that Madara would have killed her soul and possessed her body. I can concede the permanently suppressed one, as I do think she'd keep fighting no matter what, and then it would be a battle of wills and a major annoyance for Madara (which is why he didn't bother going that route). I *am* working with Sakura. I'm sorry if you don't like the way I'm writing her. She's gone through multiple emotional traumas of varying degrees over the course of the story so far, and is sharing her body with someone she doesn't like (despite her developing attraction to him). Someone who has invaded her privacy and forced her to do things she didn't want to do, and in general is in a position to manipulate and over-ride her. So she's trying to deal with it all, and although she tries to be strong, she's still young and can (and has) cracked under the pressure.

In case I didn't make it clear enough, at the start she did bitch him out and shout back and meet him head-on, though she quickly learned that sort of thing doesn't work with Madara, so she's trying other methods of how to deal with him and her difficult situation. She hasn't given up, but there is an unspoken familiarity growing between them that's slowly making her more used to him and calm when talking to him (and vice versa, he's let up on the insults a lot and is more willing to talk to her). I may be wrong, but from what I can glean from your reviews, you seem to be used to perma-hot-head Sakura, and honestly, whenever I see her written like that in other stories, where she freaks out half the time, yells a lot, complains a lot... it's annoying. Maybe she seems like a pale image of her former self to you because I gradually toned down her temper and focused on her rational side (I prefer that sort of inner strength rather than just yelling), however I can assure you that even though she's going through some rough character development, she will stay true to her core self and she'll play a critical role in changing Madara's mind about a huge plot point (no spoilers). So you're wrong that there's nothing nice for her in this story. She's going to play the most important role and change the entire outcome. I'd say that's pretty damn good. If you don't believe me or disagree, well, thanks for reading this far.

Sorry for the long note. I wanted to clear matters up. Anyways... WoD is out next week so I don't know if I'll have time to write a chapter. I'll try, or try to write it before the game is out, but apologies in advance if I skip next weekend's update. To compensate, I wrote a lot of Madara-Sakura interaction this chapter.

_Sakura speaking to Madara in her mind._

**Madara speaking to Sakura in her mind.**

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><p><strong>-Letting Go-<strong>

After spotting the black flames of Itachi's Amaterasu and arriving at the scene, the team found only the lingering scent of the two Uchiha brothers. They were too late. Sakura was naturally upset despite her mixed feelings about Sasuke, partly because of the mission's failure, but mostly on Naruto's behalf. The crushed look on his face was heartbreaking. She sometimes felt guilty about the promise he had made to her about bringing Sasuke back and everything he had gone through because of it. She had to admit that he had a stronger bond with Sasuke than she did. They had experienced similar pains and losses in their lives, something she could never truly understand, even though she had told herself until recently that she could. It was a lie she had been more than willing to believe, too wrapped up in her love for her teammate.

The journey back to Konoha was filled with disappointed silence. Madara spent the entire time brooding in the back of her mind, leaving Sakura to her thoughts. She took the opportunity to try to figure out what exactly her feelings were for Sasuke, especially after everything Madara said. It was painful and tore at her heart in a terrible way, but necessary. Everything he said... was true. Sasuke had never shown any sign of reciprocating her feelings. She did feel a lot of sympathy for what he had gone through, the Uchiha massacre, everything... and had tried her best to prove her love to him, but nothing had ever reached. Maybe she would never be able to connect with Sasuke the way she had always wanted to... and honestly, it really wasn't good for her. It had twisted her up inside and hurt her so many times, pining over that boy. It truly wasn't fair to her. Maybe it was time to think of her own mental and emotional health.

That was easier said than done, though. After holding feelings for Sasuke for so long, it was really hard to let go, despite the pain in her heart. She still wanted to save him as she always had, from his darkness, from Orochimaru, and now from the Akatsuki. But that was okay, right? He was still their lost teammate, and wanting to help him because of their past friendship... just friendship, was acceptable. Naruto still wanted to save him too, so if she thought of it as helping her best friend out, then that made it more okay. She just had to let go of her feelings for Sasuke and focus on that.

Just...

Let go.

Sakura breathed in and out deeply, imagining that she was exhaling her past love for Sasuke. Her heart still felt broken and she felt emotionally drained, but as she focused on her mental exercise, she felt a bit lighter, like a burden had been lifted. Everything would be okay. She didn't need to love Sasuke. She didn't need that pain. She didn't deserve that pain. She didn't want to feel that pain anymore. It was time to move on. Her chest ached, but it felt kind of good. She could still hold onto her past friendship with Sasuke, and that was enough. As long as she kept reminding herself to let go, she would accept her decision more and more, until it became natural and her heartbreak faded. It would be a difficult task, but she knew she could do it, for her own sake.

When they arrived in the village, Kakashi-sensei and Yamato-sensei went to report to the Hokage while everyone else went their separate ways. Naruto didn't say a word to her before leaving, and she had to stop herself from calling out to his retreating back. She frowned as he disappeared from her sight and sighed, wondering if she should have gone to comfort him. Sakura shook her head to stop herself from overthinking it and slowly made her way to her apartment, stopping briefly at a road-side stall to pick up some fresh fruit to eat while she walked.

As soon as she shut the door behind her, Madara perked up and prompted her to form a clone. She did so and flinched at the prick of pain that signaled his leave from her mind. He transformed the clone into his own body, making his way to his usual spot on her couch. She trailed after him, intent on asking him the questions that had been bugging her. Before she could, he lazily smirked at her and said, "I told you it would fail."

"Eh?" Sakura blinked, slightly confused, until she realized what he meant, "Oh... yeah. The mission..." She sighed and sat down on the opposite end of the couch, turning her body to face him as much as was comfortable. She frowned, "You were... you were right." It was hard to admit that she had been wrong. The failure stung her, especially after she had boasted that the team would succeed. She had been so sure of it, but again they had lost Sasuke.

"What was that?" Madara asked, cupping his ear and pretending in a mocking sort of way that he hadn't heard her.

Gritting her teeth in mild annoyance, she narrowed her eyes and bit out, "I said you were right. I was wrong. We tried our best and it wasn't good enough. Are you happy or do you need me to bash it into your head?"

He chuckled and shook his head once, "No, that was perfect." He paused for a few seconds, then asked, "What about that boy? Have you given up on him?" He was really picking at her emotional wounds today. She briefly wondered if he got some sort of sick joy from it.

Sakura sighed again, feeling the tug at her heart at the mention of Sasuke, "Yes... and no." She had made her decision during the journey home.

Madara cocked an eyebrow, "What exactly does that mean? Are you still holding on to some sort of... love?" he sneered that last word.

She smiled, though she knew the sadness was clear in her eyes, "No, I've decided to let go of my feelings for him. But... I'm not giving up on trying to save him and bring him back, in memory of our past friendship, and for Naruto's sake."

He looked slightly baffled, "Well, at least you're not foolish enough to keep chasing after him like a puppy... but you still want to save him? That's absolutely ridiculous and pointless."

"I told you before, didn't I?" Sakura replied, enjoying turning the tables on Madara for once. He had a frown on his face. He really didn't understand and that tickled her. It was also a good distraction from her heartache.

"Explain," he demanded with a slight scowl. She grinned at his annoyance, extremely tempted to take it further and taunt him, but she still wanted to ask him about the masked man and the plant-guy, so she couldn't push him too far.

"I will never, ever give up. That is my ninja way. I will help Naruto save Sasuke, no matter how long it takes, no matter how many times we fail, no matter how many times we're crushed with disappointment. Eventually, as long as we keep trying, we'll bring him home," Sakura said, happy at the spark of confidence that blossomed deep inside her, a welcome change from the disappointment, sadness, and heartbreak.

"You won't give up on finding him, but you're willing to give up on your feelings for him? Doesn't that conflict with what you just said?" he asked, a curious gleam in his black eyes.

"Those are two totally different things," Sakura answered, and at Madara's disbelieving look, she offered further explanation, "One of them involves more than me... it's about Naruto and Sasuke too. The other, my feelings for him... you were right that he never felt the same, so that was something that only concerned me. It's not good for me to hold onto feelings that have only caused me pain, so I decided that it's time to let go."

Madara stared at her for a moment, the intense look making her fidget. Finally, he broke the silence and said, "I'll give you credit where it's due... it's good that you took my advice about that boy and you're not allowing your emotions to cloud your judgement. However, have you considered that you may never succeed in bringing him back to Konoha?"

Sakura was mildly surprised that he had given her veiled praise about her decision to let go of her love for Sasuke. She considered his question and said, "Maybe... even if it never happens, I won't give up, and I know Naruto won't either. If we end up trying for the rest of our lives, then so be it."

He went quiet, looking at her as if she had two heads. Sakura was about to open her mouth and break the silence when he laughed, the sound doing weird things to her stomach. He leaned forward, reached out, and flicked her forehead. "Foolish."

She batted his hand away, aware that it wasn't really an insult. The quirk of his lips and glint in his eyes made that clear. It was something else... teasing maybe? She pushed that thought away, unsure how to deal with it and the odd emotions that came with it. "So what? Do you just give up when things get too hard?" she challenged.

Madara's face shifted into a solemn expression. "No... before I discovered the true nature of this world, I tried and failed in my efforts many times..." His dark eyes glazed over and he looked lost in his thoughts. Sakura waited patiently for him to continue, wanting to take advantage of his talkative mood.

Suddenly, there was a flash behind her eyes and she found herself perceiving a vision that overlapped with reality. She could still see Madara on her couch, but she could also see a river, and as usual she was looking out from the Uchiha's point of view. She briefly saw herself turning away from the young Hashirama as he pleaded with her to not abandon their dream, a pain in her eyes as her Sharingan manifested, then the scene flickered between multiple battles with him, looking older each time. She saw Uchihas getting killed, her father being slaughtered in battle, and the second Hokage... Tobirama, slicing through her brother's chest. The name popped into her mind... Izuna.

A fierce sorrow and sense of bitter failure broke her heart as she sat looking down at Izuna as he slowly died. "Take my eyes, brother... use them to protect the clan," he begged her. She felt tears sting her eyes, both in the vision and in reality as the intensity of Madara's emotions overwhelmed her. The scene shifted again to a mountain that overlooked a smaller, developing Konoha. Hashirama was next to her, saying something about wanting her to be the Hokage and think of the villagers as her family.

The vision flickered again quickly through different scenes, and she saw Hashirama's face on the mountain, the Uchiha clan turning their backs on her as she tried to warn them that the Senjus would subjugate them, frustration, betrayal, loss, and failure cutting through her as she realized she couldn't keep her promise to her brother, Hashirama in the Hokage's outfit begging her not to leave in some sort of underground shrine, fighting against him on top of the Kyuubi, an explosion, a sharp pain as a sword stabbed through her chest, and she felt dizzy, her head spinning.

Sakura blinked and tried to clear her mind as the barrage of visions ended. Luckily Madara seemed to still be lost in his thoughts, so she discreetly wiped her eyes clean of the threatening tears and locked the new information away in the back of her mind. She didn't know why she'd suddenly seen all that, but it wasn't enough. It was never enough. Every time she had a vision of Madara's past, it always left her with more questions than it answered. Still, she was grateful for any new insight about the Uchiha. She wished that she hadn't felt his emotions though... she was already feeling seriously drained from everything that had happened today, and the experience only made her even more tired.

Madara's expression sharpened and she realized he was paying attention again, so she took a chance and asked, "When you say the true nature of this world, you mean that stuff we talked about way back when, about winners and losers, and peace and hatred?" She wanted to ask about the efforts he mentioned too, but that wasn't as important, and it was best to focus on one topic at a time.

He nodded, "Yes." Sakura waited for him to elaborate, but to her disappointment, he didn't. She bit her lip, and decided to go for it.

"You never told me about your solution to that problem. I'm really curious, especially after today... I mean, you were right about the failure of the mission..." she said, trying to butter him up a bit and hopefully get on his good side. It was an insult to her pride to do so, but worth the sacrifice.

Madara hummed, considering her request, "I'm not entirely sure if you deserve to know." Sakura mentally facepalmed and resisted the urge to swear at him.

"Please," she ground out, trying really hard to not look frustrated, "It's not like I can tell anyone with the seal you've put on me, and I am genuinely interested to know how you would address the concept of darkness in the world."

He crossed his arms and gave her a piercing stare, which she met full on, unwilling to back down. The seconds turned into a full minute, and then it felt like something shifted between the two of them and he smirked, "Hn... alright then. I'll tell you tomorrow. It's getting late now and it'll take a while to explain."

Sakura blinked in shock, surprised that he had actually consented to her request. She smiled at him, a real smile, and said, "Thank you. I appreciate it."

Ever elegant, Madara snorted and looked away, "As you should... considering I tolerate all your inane nonsense and questions." He sighed dramatically, making his exasperation very clear.

Sakura's smile tightened, and she felt somewhat irritated at his manners, but instead of letting her annoyance show or making a snarky remark, something she would have done even a week ago, she played along, "I apologize for my naive ignorance," she drawled, "Perhaps you could find it in yourself to suffer another question or two?"

She knew she had handled it right when his lips curled up in an amused smirk and he turned back to her, "Perhaps I can."

"That masked man from earlier... why did he piss you off like that?" she asked, hoping that his good mood would lead to an actual answer.

Her gamble paid off. Madara hesitated before replying carefully, "It's not been revealed outside of a small number of people, but that man is acting under my name."

Sakura's mind raced as she put it together. So the Akatsuki member and Madara definitely knew each other somehow, and he got mad when the masked man acted like an idiot, because it made a mockery of his Uchiha name. But how and why did they know each other? "Is he working for you?" she asked.

"Mm," Madara confirmed, watching her closely, as if he was aware that she was putting together the puzzle pieces in her head. She wanted to question him more about the Akatsuki member, who he was, why he was working for Madara, how they met... but...

Worried that she was approaching the end of his willingness to part with information, she took a chance and asked, "And that plant-guy... does he know that you're sealed inside me?"

Madara's eyes narrowed, "Aha, so you picked up on that. Pretty clever... for a woman. Yes, he does."

Ignoring the sexist remark, Sakura immediately tried to dig for more, "How did he find out? Does he work for you too?" She felt excited to solve this mystery.

The Uchiha tsked and shook his head, "That's enough for now. I gave you three answers, one more than what you asked for. Next time, be sure to carefully word your questions. You could have gotten a lot more knowledge from me if you had."

Sakura sighed and grumbled, "I don't suppose I could bribe you somehow?" She was disappointed that she had only gotten a little bit of information out of him, but he was right. She shouldn't have gotten caught up in her excitement, and instead taken time to phrase them better. She couldn't complain too much though... he had actually answered her this time, for once.

Madara humored her, "Actually, you can. There's something I've been meaning to do... a little side project I've been looking into. Work with me on it, and I'll answer a few more of your bothersome questions."

She gave him a curious look, "Uh... okay? I guess? I don't suppose you'd tell me what it is?" She sighed as he smirked pointedly at her. "Of course not. Well, when do you want to do it?"

"Soon," he replied, as if that told her anything. "When the opportunity presents itself, I'll let you know."

"Fine," Sakura agreed, ignoring the voice in the back of her mind warning her that this could be a bad idea. It was possible, but the more she learned about Madara and his motives, the better chances she stood against him if he ever decided to try anything really horrible.

"Now, go to bed. I won't have you ruining our body," he commanded, shooing her away and picking up a novel. She was about to argue and state that it was her body thank-you-very-much, when she yawned, proving his point.

Catching Madara's amused look, Sakura said, "Shut up." She didn't bother waiting for his reply or any more teasing insults, instead getting up and heading into her room to brush her teeth and go to sleep. It was only when she was alone that she realized she hadn't been thinking about Sasuke during most of the time that she had spent talking to Madara, and she didn't feel as bad anymore. She smiled to herself. That bastard was useful in one way, at least.

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><p><strong>Next Chapter:<strong> Sakura questions Madara's sanity. Madara questions Sakura's principles.


	26. Eye of the Moon

**A/N:** Thanks for the reviews: mshccs, Funnie, anon guest one and two, la canelle, Amy, music3kp, Shadowlove'scookies, sasukekarin0801, GoldenPiggy, Corrina, , AMidnightSilhouette, ckncreme, Musical cake, and Lunardragon33. Nice to see new reviewers as well as the usual awesome names. Glad everyone liked the chapter. Sorry about missing last weekend's update but I got super busy with WoW. Things have sorta calmed down a bit now, enough for me to write. Anon guest, about the eventual MadaHashi, I don't want to spoil too much, but I intend for both of them to have had unspoken, unacted upon feelings for each other in the past, but neither of them knew about the other's feelings and for Madara's part, it got really twisted after Hashirama was named Hokage. I guess you could label Madara as bisexual for this story, however, he's a really complex character and in my view he needs to respect someone enough to actually be attracted to them. It's not just a blanket statement. His former attraction to and feelings for Hashirama was something he struggled a lot with, given their history.

Amy, yeah, Madara is getting more used to Sakura and is secretly a tiny bit fond of her, not that he'll admit it any time soon. They've both grown on each other, and Sakura isn't always holding his past jerk moves against him (seeing her naked, the boyfriend teasing, etc), although she hasn't forgotten about all that. She also hasn't forgotten that he's a large threat and a force to deal with. Ckncreme, yeah it's a bit hard to write Madara considering how old he is. He doesn't give a shit about a lot of stuff anymore, including a lot of things Sakura does care about. She'll eventually connect with him though! Musical Cake, if you recall in the Madara summary chapter, he decided to look into a side project. That's what the reference is. Just giving a hint if you want to figure it out or wait and see.

Anyways, please review if you like the chapter! It has a lot of info dumping (though it's Madara's version of the story and he doesn't know everything). If you see any grammar errors, do let me know so I can fix. Thanks! I wrote the dialogue for this chapter before filling in everything else, so I might have missed something. Also yay long chapter. Enjoy!

_Sakura speaking to Madara in her mind._

**Madara speaking to Sakura in her mind.**

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><p><strong>-Eye of the Moon-<strong>

"Do you know anything about the time before shinobi?" Madara asked after a moment of silence. Sakura had finally gotten him to sit down and explain to her what his plan for world peace was, as weird as that sounded. After the failure to find and bring back Sasuke, this small victory was something to be cherished.

She frowned, "No... what do you mean?" She had never really thought about that sort of thing before. Hadn't ninjas always just kind of been around? His question implied the opposite, though. Madara sighed and shifted into a more comfortable position on the couch.

"Chakra didn't always exist in humans," he explained. "Even before ninjas came to be, before anyone had learned about the concept of chakra, man waged endless wars against each other. Back in that era, there was a Divine Tree. It was worshiped by everyone, untouched by the constant fighting. Legend has it that once a millennium, it bears a fruit. For reasons I still haven't discovered, it was forbidden to touch that fruit. However, a princess, Kaguya Otsutsuki, decided to consume it and gained the power of a god. She was the first human to possess chakra. She single-handedly ended the fighting and created a time of peace."

"How do you know all of that...?" Sakura interjected, her curiosity piqued. This was all new to her. She had not once ever heard this story before. She'd always had a thirst for knowledge, and the origin of chakra greatly interested her. However, it was Madara, so she had to listen with a grain of salt... although she didn't think he was lying to her. Not about this.

Irritation flashed in his dark eyes, but he answered her. "It's written on an Uchiha monument and can only be read by members of my clan that have an exceptionally strong Sharingan." Madara paused and shot her a mild glare, "Try to not interrupt me again." Sakura bit back the urge to retort that asking questions was never wrong, and instead nodded silently. He was giving her valuable information, so she would play by his rules. He continued, "Kaguya eventually had a son that was born naturally with chakra. Do you know of the Sage of the Six Paths?"

Finally, a name she did recognize, but she had never been able to find many details regarding him. "Yeah, he was the first shinobi. I always thought it was a myth, but I'm guessing that's incorrect?"

"Hn, indeed," Madara confirmed. "Her son was the Sage. Some time after that, the Divine Tree came to life, intent on reclaiming the chakra that Kaguya had stolen from it."

Sakura blinked in disbelief. "A tree came to life...?" Seriously what the fuck? The tale had been pretty believable up until now, but a plant coming alive was hard to swallow and seemed kind of ridiculous. Catching Madara's annoyed look, she realized she'd interrupted again. "Sorry," she muttered and motioned for him to go on.

Madara huffed, but accepted her apology and carried on with the explanation, "The Divine Tree became the Juubi, the Ten Tails."

This time Sakura felt wholly justified in interrupting him. "Whoa! Wait. What do you mean Ten Tails? You mean there's another tailed beast?!" She was very alarmed. The bijuu were extremely dangerous. She knew that the more tails they had, the stronger they were. The thought of one even more powerful than the Kyuubi was frightening.

"Yes and no," Madara replied, not bothering to scold her for butting in yet again, although she could tell by the slight exasperation in his tone that he was still annoyed by it. "All of the bijuu that exist today originally were part of the Juubi." Sakura opened her mouth to ask another question, her mind buzzing as it processed all this new information, but he preemptively held up a hand to silence her. "I'll get to that in a moment. The Sage, Hagoromo Otsutsuki, fought and defeated the Juubi when it attacked. He sealed it inside himself, becoming the first Jinchuuriki."

The Sage was the first one? And for the Ten Tails too. She felt some degree of awe for the Sage. She knew Naruto struggled a lot with the Kyuubi. The Juubi must have been so much worse. "I had no idea..." Sakura admitted, choosing to fully believe what he was saying. There was no way that it was a lie, not a story this elaborate. Madara was a dick, but he wouldn't make all of this up just to mess with her, especially if this was all somehow related to his world peace plan. "So all of this actually happened? I can't believe no one knows about this..."

Madara chuckled, however, there was a hint of bitterness in it. "Many truths are lost to time, unfortunately. Anyways, the Sage is the one who distributed chakra to man and taught Ninshu." Sakura made a soft, questioning sound, successfully prompting him to elaborate. "Chakra was originally intended to allow people to connect with and truly understand each other. Humans turned it into a weapon instead... ninjutsu, going against the Sage's teachings. They twisted a gift into a curse and only made the following wars even more violent and bloody." A dark look settled on his face, unsettling her in an odd way.

She pushed aside her uncertainty and asked, "I thought Kaguya had created peace though? And what about the Sage and the Juubi?"

With a casual shrug, Madara replied, "Death is inevitable, as is conflict. It's just the nature of mankind." It was a simple answer, but he did not need to elaborate further. Everyone died eventually. "When the Sage was approaching the end of his life, he split the Ten Tails into nine different beasts and sealed the body of the Juubi in the moon."

"Really? The moon?" Sakura said, frowning slightly as she considered that bit of information. At Madara's single nod, she hesitantly accepted it and voiced her racing thoughts, "So, the bijuu... if they were made from the Juubi... then is it possible to combine them together again?"

"Yes, and I intend to do so," he answered, unaware of the steely bite of fear that shot through her body. In order for that to happen... the fox would have to be removed from Naruto... and that would kill him. She could not let that happen.

"...What? Why? From what you said, it sounds like the Juubi is way too dangerous to revive. Wouldn't it try to get chakra back again? It'd be a death sentence..." Sakura stated, her voice betraying how tense she felt. She was afraid of the idea of the Juubi coming back to life, and she was terrified for Naruto's safety.

Madara snorted and dismissed her concerns, "That won't happen. I will become its Jinchuuriki and cast Infinite Tsukuyomi onto the moon, which will shine down on everyone, creating a dream world of only happiness and peace for all of mankind. There will be no more wars, no suffering, no hate, no sadness... everyone will be happy. That is my Eye of the Moon plan, as I have taken to calling it."

Sakura stared blankly at him, her mouth hanging open a bit, as she slowly processed what he had just said. It absolutely baffled her. It was so far beyond mind-boggling that she had no words for it. That?! That was his world peace plan?! Tsukuyomi was a very strong illusion technique... she knew that Itachi had used it when he was alive. Adding the word 'infinite' in front of it only made it sound so much worse. And Madara wanted to cast it on the entire world population?! Stuttering off and on, she managed to say, "But... that's just an illusion... it won't be real..." How could he think that a dream world was an acceptable solution for world peace? She couldn't even wrap her mind around the concept.

With a roll of his eyes, Madara replied as if were the most obvious fact in existence, "No one will be able to tell the difference. The Infinite Tsukuyomi will create the perfect world for each person according to their desires and wishes. The important thing is that it will break the cycle of hate that we shinobi... that we humans are doomed to suffer."

Everything about the idea of living in some fake dream world offended her on a deep level. She shook her head, gathering her wits, and protested strongly, "I don't understand how putting everyone into an illusion will solve anything. All it does is remove free will!" How could he not see how absolutely wrong that was?

Madara narrowed his eyes at her, a harsh look settling on his face. His expression hinted at all of the horrors and suffering he'd seen over the course of his life. "Free will?" He nearly snarled, "From the earliest known history, humans chose to wage war against each other. They chose to turn chakra into a weapon and the fighting became even more devastating. Humans are destined to spiral down a path of perpetual and endless tragedy. And nothing ever changes. We always make the same choices. It's our fate to suffer from our own foolishness. In this world, a true dream is nothing more than illusion. No matter how hard and long people struggle and hope for a better future, no amount of effort ever brings about any real change. The only answer is to create a new reality with Infinite Tsukuyomi."

Sakura flinched at the force of his rant, but shot back, "You're insane... How can you..." She stalled, unable to deny the bitter truth of his words. Still, even if he was right about everything he had just said, she could not accept that the way to fix that was throwing away this reality. "What makes you think that it's okay to make that choice for everyone?!" she nearly yelled.

"Because I will obtain the power to do it, and afterwards any objections won't matter," the Uchiha stated, his temper now calm, although the dark look on his face remained.

This was worse than she ever expected. It wasn't only Naruto she had to fear for, it was the entire goddamn planet. "You can't put the whole world under an illusion!" she yelled, then caught herself and tried to control her temper better. It was incredibly frustrating though. "That's so beyond fucked up... even if you're right... that humans have fought and killed each other for so long, with or without chakra... doesn't taking everyone into a dream world invalidate all we've sacrificed to get here? Sure, it's not perfect, but we're slowly making progress. If we keep trying, we can achieve real peace, and not an illusion," she pleaded. She could not let Madara go through with this, even if she had to keep him sealed inside her for the rest of her life, even if she had to fight him every step of the way.

Madara sighed heavily, "I thought so once too, but that was a false hope. Your generation has lived an extremely sheltered life in the shinobi villages. Back when I was young, children often died in battle. Hashirama and I created Konoha to change that... however, it turned out to be a failed experiment. There's no breaking the cycle of hate without creating a new reality, a world of dreams."

"It was a step forward!" Sakura interrupted, trying to point out that things were better than back then, that less children and people died. The villages had brought a good amount of stability and some times of peace. There was still fighting, yes, but it was definitely less chaotic...

He fixed her with a sharp, piercing stare. "Nothing changed. Other villages formed, and you know well what happened afterwards. More wars, more fighting, more children dying... exactly the same as before. Humans will always kill each other, Sakura... especially shinobi."

Feeling increasingly strained, desperate, and upset, she said, "We can't just give up hope. If we keep trying... reaching more people, slowly we'll change the world for the better." It sounded a bit lame after it had left her mouth, but she still could not accept giving up the current reality for a fake one. Her very core self protested against it.

"That's a nice sentiment, but unrealistic," Madara replied in a serious tone. "Say that a peace is established. How long do you think it would last? As soon as a nation, village, or even a person decides to harm another, be it for power, wealth, love, whatever the reason, it starts the cycle of hatred and suffering again. The person who was wronged will seek revenge, and in turn others will pursue their own justice. Eventually that will escalate into larger battles, then war. As I've told you before, this reality is only made of pain, suffering, and emptiness."

Sakura shook her head again, "I... I don't believe forcing everyone into a world of illusions is the answer, Madara. It seems like it's running away from the problem. Do you truly believe that escaping into a fake dream is the solution? What happened to you... what sort of pain twisted your thinking so much to go this far...?" She didn't like trying to appeal to his emotional side, assuming he had one, but she was running out of arguments. If she could not talk him out of casting Infinite Tsukuyomi, that only left one option on the table, and it would inevitably lead to fighting with him for the rest of her life.

Of course he saw right through her ploy. Madara tsked, amused, "Oh please, don't even try that with me. I simply have lived long enough to see this world as it really is." He relaxed back into the couch, then tilted his head at her. "Tell me something, considering all that I've told you today, what would your answer to ending war and suffering be? Hm? How would you break the cycle? How would you ensure that no one ever felt pain again, that no one ever lost a loved one, or was ever betrayed, or suffered alone?"

Wow, way to put her on the spot. "...I don't know," Sakura admitted truthfully, "But it certainly wouldn't involve a fake illusion instead of reality." She glared at him, angry at him for having such an unacceptable world peace plan, if it was even worthy of being called that, and angry at herself for being unable to come up with an alternative answer.

He smirked at her, "Again, no one will know the difference. It will be as real as this world, without the negatives." She wanted to yell at him that it was still fake, but she'd already tried to make that point several times. Maybe she could try to find a way around the seal on her tongue and warn someone...

Sakura sighed, emotional drained for a second day in a row and feeling a bit overwhelmed from the amount of information Madara had just filled her head with. Yelling at him more would do no more good, as much as she would like to. Honestly, she really would love to scream at him. He deserved it for being dead set on a plan that would fuck over everyone, take their free will away from them, and lock them inside a fake reality. But... she was smarter than that and would not let her temper rule her, not when it came to something so important and critical. What she could do now is stall for time until she had a better idea. "Let me think about it," she told him. Worst case scenario was fighting him for control of her body until she died... though... speaking of death... no... no reason to think about that yet.

Madara nodded at her, wearing an irritating grin she wanted to wipe off his face. "Take all the time you need. I look forward to your realization that there is no solution but the Infinite Tsukuyomi."

Sakura breathed deeply, then met his cocky smirk with a challenging look of her own. "I'll never accept that," she stated. It was the truth. She would never chose a fake world over the real one. Fake peace and happiness was still just that. Fake.

"You don't need to," he pointed out. She opened her mouth to counter with her own snarky remark, but a knock on the door interrupted her. Without excusing herself, uncaring if it was rude, she left Madara and got up to answer it.

She unlocked the door and opened it to find the fourth young member of Team Kakashi staring at her. "Sai? What are you doing here?" she asked, the unusual occurrence leaving her somewhat concerned.

"Hey Ugly," he greeted, and she glared at the use of the nickname. "The Hokage wants us both in her office right now."

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><p><strong>Next Chapter:<strong> Team Seven gets some very bad news. Madara sees a chance to pursue investigation of his side project. Sakura is not happy at all.


	27. Cashing in the Favor

**A/N:** Thanks for the reviews: Of Healing Love, la canelle, mshccs, Musical cake, Shadowlove'scookies, GoldenPiggy, Blossom, and Amy! Of Healing Love, you're on the right track and that's part of it. There will be more to it, of course. But yeah, no spoilers. Glad everyone liked the last chapter. This one is shorter (still 2k words though lol) and more of a transition for the next one though, sorry (forgive any spelling and grammar errors too). The last few chapters have been pretty long and I wasn't feeling too motivated this weekend. Going with Pein over Pain, since I like the first one's spelling better. Hope everyone had a good Thanksgiving! Please review if you can spare a few seconds. It helps a lot with motivation.

_Sakura speaking to Madara in her mind._

**Madara speaking to Sakura in her mind.**

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><p><strong>-Cashing in the Favor-<strong>

"Naruto, where are you going?" Sakura called out to her blonde friend. He looked absolutely crushed after hearing the news of Jiraiya's death at the hands of the Akatsuki's leader, Pein. She had arrived with Sai before Naruto and Kakashi-sensei showed up to find a small toad sage waiting with Tsunade-shishou in the Hokage office. When Sakura had asked why they both looked so grim, she'd been told about Jiraiya's battle and defeat. Apparently they thought Naruto was the Child of Prophecy. On Madara's insistence, Sakura had asked for more details on that and learned that the Great Toad Sage had once predicted that a student of Jiraiya would bring about a great revolution to the shinobi world. The Uchiha hadn't been impressed, and Sakura was honestly somewhat skeptical too. She sort of hoped it was true, but she was aware that revolution wasn't necessarily good. Still better than Madara's bullshit Eye of the Moon plan, though.

"If that pervy sage had been made the fifth Hokage, then Tsunade wouldn't have forced him to do this... I know it..." Naruto said without turning around, then left the room. Sakura called out to him again and made to follow, wanting nothing more than to comfort her friend, but her Shishou stopped her.

"Sakura, it's okay. Just leave him alone for a while," the Hokage said. Although the older woman hid it, she could tell that Jiraiya's death was weighing heavily on her mind. Naruto had been close to the sage as well. Sakura hadn't really known Jiraiya that well, but she sympathized with those who did. As selfish as it was, she was kind of glad that the death didn't phase her too much. She was still feeling emotionally drained from the failure to bring back Sasuke and learning about Madara's plan.

'**Your Jinchuuriki friend will be able to see his master again in the Infinite Tsukuyomi**,' Madara stated, completely unaffected by the sorrow that everyone else was feeling.

'_Just shut up for now about that, okay?_' Sakura snapped, frustrated and annoyed. Madara snorted but dropped the subject, thankfully. She really didn't want to hear anymore about the fake dream world today. Not after the death of such an important Konoha shinobi and revelation of the kind of powers Pein had. Seriously, six bodies that all had the Rinnegan, the same eyes that the Sage of the Six Paths had? Talk about bad news, and to make matters worse, each Pein had a special ability. The key to fighting him... or them, would be to figure out the power of each one. Sakura wasn't sure if she should be referring to Pein as one or six people. It was pretty damn confusing. She wasn't happy that Madara was able to listen in on all this intel, but what choice did she have?

The rest of the day passed by in a blur, with Tsunade-shishou planning out the details for how to proceed with the information Jiraiya had died to obtain. The code on the toad sage's back was photographed and Sakura was sent to fetch Shikamaru to head up the decoding team. The prisoner from Amegakure was retrieved from Jiraiya's toad and handed over to Ibiki Morino for interrogation. Hopefully they could get more information out of him. They already knew that Pein was the Kage of that village. Shizune left with a couple of other medics to investigate the one body of Pein that had been brought back to see if they could find any clues about the Rinnegan. Any sort of funeral for Jiraiya would have to wait, and there was still no sign of Naruto after he'd stormed out.

On a whim, Sakura had asked Madara if he knew anything about the Rinnegan, but he had just laughed and refused to reply. She had a weird feeling that he did know something important about the legendary eye Dojutsu, especially considering he knew more of the Sage's story than anyone else. Jiraiya's battle with the six Peins had revealed all of them could see what the others were seeing, but a lot of details were still shrouded in mystery. It'd be super helpful if Madara would not be a dick like he usually is, and pass on useful information that she could actually share with the others. But that was clearly too much to ask for. Due to the seal on her tongue, Sakura could not alert anyone about the Uchiha or the threat of the Infinite Tsukuyomi... for now. She intended to look for a way to get around that as soon as possible.

It was highly likely that the leader of the Akatsuki would retaliate against Konoha's intrusion into and attack on Amegakure, so Tsunade-shishou sent out orders to beef up security along the wall and alerted the outposts to keep an eye out for any sign of Pein or his underlings. Sakura helped out with that task, passing orders to Anbu and even Root. Once Danzo had been informed of the situation, he was quite willing to mobilize the shinobi he commanded. Evening soon led to night as the hours passed and everyone worked as fast and hard as they could. Madara made it known that he found all of this quite boring. She took great joy in telling him to just suck it up and deal with it, because if she didn't do the work, it would be suspicious. He reluctantly conceded the point, but she could feel him scheming in the back of her mind. He seriously could be so childish with grudges.

Sakura finished writing the last message around midnight and tied it to a hawk's leg to deliver it to the southern outpost. "Finally," she sighed, looking forward to getting some sleep. She started to make her way out of the Hokage building when Madara took control, forcing her to a stop. '_What the hell are you doing?_' Sakura demanded to know.

'**There are few eyes watching the village's interior tonight. This is the perfect chance to look into that side project I told you about**,' the Uchiha replied. It took a few seconds for Sakura's tired mind to realize what he was talking about. She also recalled that she had agreed to help him with it in exchange for the opportunity to get more answers from him. Looking back, it had been a foolish and rash decision, but she couldn't go back in time and change it now.

'_What does that involve exactly...?_' she asked, wary of his intentions. He didn't respond right away, instead taking them outside and in a direction that did not lead to her apartment. He was keeping to the shadows as much as possible, which only made her more suspicious. The night was cold and dark, perfect for sneaking around.

'**We're going to see what dirty secrets Konoha has been keeping**," Madara said, coming to a brief halt to scout the building ahead. With a shock, Sakura found herself looking at the Root headquarters.

'_Root?! Are you insane? We can't go in there! They'll catch us!_' she protested, struggling to regain control of her body. The Uchiha resisted her mental attack and pushed back, reinforcing his will.

'**What kind of shinobi do you take me for? They won't know a thing**,' Madara said with a smirk in his voice. '**Are you going to be a good girl and come along quietly? Or are you going back on your word, hm?**' He began to creep forward towards a back entrance after confirming the guards' positions and patrol routes.

'_I... I know I said I'd help you but this is too much, Madara. What makes you think that you'll find anything in Root, anyways?_' Sakura answered, stalling for a little more time, unhappy that she was breaking her word, but seriously... there was a limit and this was going way past it. She began to gather herself together, preparing for another battle of wills.

With a roll of his eyes, Madara said, '**I've not been spending all my time away from you in bookstores and the library, Sakura. I've been listening and learning. I know for a fact that Root keeps records of all the information they don't want leaked to the general public. I even have a good idea of where to look**.'

Sakura hesitated, torn between wanting to find out what secrets Danzo had been hiding and the risk of getting caught. Even if Madara assured her that no one would know, there was always a chance of things going wrong. Still... if there was critical information being hidden by Root, then if she went along with the Uchiha and learned it, she could pass it on to Tsunade-shishou, right? It was times like this that she cursed her itch for knowledge. However, if she was discovered breaking in and reading top secret records, she'd be charged with treason against the village... It would be better to play it safe. '_I can't. This is a really bad idea. We need to turn back right now_.'

Madara let out a disappointed sigh, but didn't stop, '**If that's your answer, then fine. I'm calling the favor you owe me. You will not fight me on this**.' He paused for a short moment to avoid a routine patrol, then made a break for it.

'_What favor...?_' Sakura asked, starting to panic as the Uchiha took them into the dark, empty Root building. She wasn't ready to push against him yet and fight for control of her body. It had been a very long day and she was exhausted. This was so not good. She felt tense, coiled like a spring ready to snap.

'**You promised me a favor in exchange for occasional privacy**,' Madara reminded her, silently making his way down countless twisting hallways. He clearly had some idea of where to go. Sakura searched her memories and found the one confirming what he said. Damn. So she had indeed promised him a favor...

Sakura felt like tearing her hair out in stress as her morals clashed with her desires and reality. Should she keep her promise or obey the law? She sensed a wave of amusement from the Uchiha as she struggled with her decision and mentally snarled at him. Ugh, this was driving her insane... Just... fuck it. They were already inside Root and she couldn't deny that learning classified secrets was very tempting. It was also obvious there would be no dissuading Madara at this point. Might as well go along for the ride. Plus she could deliver the information to her Shishou afterwards. It wasn't much justification for blatantly breaking the rules but it did help her feel a little better and less guilty. '_Fine_,' she sighed, then added a threat. '_But if you get us caught I will never let you hear the end of it_.'

Madara chuckled at her reply and stopped in front of a door. With a skill that left Sakura feeling mildly jealous, he undid the seals and traps set in place and entered the room, making his way towards the back. He unlocked a rather plain cabinet and opened it to reveal a multitude of stacked folders. She watched on, mentally holding her breath, as he flicked through the all the files, sighed, and moved on to the next cabinet. That one didn't hold whatever he wanted either. Sakura was beginning to really worry about how long they'd been in here, however the third try was the charm. '**Ah, here we are**,' he said, picking up a folder and opening it.

She could do nothing but stare in shock and disbelief at the title. This could not be real... there was no way... yet there it was right in front of her. '_Uchiha Massacre..._'

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><p><strong>Next Chapter:<strong> Madara and Sakura learn the dark truth behind Konoha's bloodiest secret.


	28. Fork in the Road

**A/N:** Thanks for the reviews: TvonUchiha, GoldenPiggy, Sunbattle, mshccs, ckncreme, anon guest, Gal Can't Help It, and Amy. Madara isn't really trying to make Sakura hate Konoha, just open her eyes to what he perceives as the truth of the world. So yeah, maybe some resentment but mostly forcing her to grow up really fast and question her world views. Just assume that the entire story of the massacre was in the report. Shisui is briefly mentioned in it, but he has his own folder in Root, so his full story isn't included in the one Madara and Sakura are reading. Since it's pretty common knowledge in the fandom I'm not going to type the whole thing out. Gal Can't Help It, Sakura understands that sometimes shinobi and villages need to get their hands dirty, especially during war, but she never even imagined the idea that Konoha would kill its own citizens. The rest of your review is addressed in this chapter. Enjoy! Yes there is a slight bit of fluff at the end, and more will be coming very soon.

Sorry about missing last weekend's update, was sick. Forgive any spelling and grammar errors please.

_Sakura speaking to Madara in her mind._

**Madara speaking to Sakura in her mind.**

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><p><strong>-Fork in the Road-<strong>

At first she didn't believe a word of it, but as the evidence piled up, Sakura was reduced to a state of shocked silence as she and Madara read the official Root report on the truth behind the Uchiha massacre. The level of mistrust between the village's leadership and the Uchiha clan and the amount of supervision they had been under before that bloody night was astounding. Sakura honestly could not blame the Uchihas for the ill-will and resentment that had been fostered during their segregation and isolation from the rest of the village. The icing on the cake was the fact that it was Itachi who had turned against his own clan and murdered them to protect Konoha from being torn apart by rebellion. Itachi, the same one who had tormented Sasuke for years, who had tried to capture Naruto, and who apparently had lived a massive lie for more than half of his life. And he did it all in order to keep his little brother safe.

That was almost as hard to accept as the fact that Konoha's leadership had ordered Itachi to commit the massacre. Well, more specifically, Danzo had, but the Third had done nothing to stop it from happening. It disgusted Sakura on such a deep level, that if she had been in control of her body, it would have left her bent over dry heaving. She was overcome by horror and anger and sheer disbelief at the terrible truth. It sent her mind reeling, barely aware of Madara covering their tracks in Root, resting all the traps, and stealthily making their way back to her apartment. True to his word, no one would ever know that they had been there.

As soon as he had separated from her into a clone and transformed it into his own image, Sakura collapsed on the couch and put her head in her hands. "I can't believe it... how could Konoha do something like this? How could they force Itachi to murder his own family?! And Sasuke..." She trailed off, choking up and fighting back a wave of bile in the back of her throat.

Madara, of course, was handling it far better than she was. "Heh, I always knew that Tobirama would seal the fate of my clan, but I never imagined the final blow would be dealt from the hand of an Uchiha," he said, casually joining her on the couch, his expression nonchalant. Sakura vaguely processed what he meant. The Second had started all of this with his policies, making the Uchihas into the police force, and building the jail next to their clan compound. Of course it wasn't all his fault, but it had been a factor for sure. If things had happened differently, then maybe Sasuke...

Another wave of fury washed over her. Lifting her head up, her eyes flashing in rage, Sakura jabbed a finger at Madara and nearly snarled, "How can you talk about this so casually?! You're a heartless bastard, but it was your clan that was wiped out! Don't you feel anything at all?"

Black eyes regarded her in a cool manner, unaffected by her anger. He made a show of looking thoughtful for a moment, then replied, "Hm... no, I don't care."

Madara's lack of emotion just made her even more mad. Surely he felt something, right? No one was that cold. Oh yes, but of course, this was the guy who had totally checked out of this reality. "Because of your stupid Infinite Tsukuyomi, right?!" she snapped, glaring at him.

"Hn," he confirmed, looking slightly bored now. She ground her teeth together, all the emotions coursing through her were impeding her judgment and common sense. She was aware of it, but she fully embraced her feelings, far too twisted up to care that it wasn't really a good idea to take it all out on Madara.

"Well I fucking care!" she yelled, "An entire clan was murdered and almost no one knows the truth! I know the village has done some questionable things, especially during war, but to kill its own citizens... How could they ever think that was okay?! We're shinobi, not monsters!" Sakura clenched her fists, trembling in rage. She wanted to break something, anything, just to work out her anger.

Madara raised an eyebrow and asked, "Are you thinking of trying to reveal the truth? You do realize that no one would believe you, right?" Sakura froze, her mind racing, trying to come up with a scenario in which someone would believe her. However, they had left the Root report where they had found it, so she had no proof. Fuck. She swore colorfully, cursing herself for not thinking to grab any evidence. The truth of the massacre was so far-fetched that no one would believe her on just her word, maybe not even the Hokage. The Uchiha chuckled lightly, "I must admit that Itachi's work is very impressive. He covered his tracks exceptionally well."

Sakura shook her head, throwing off the bitter disappointment and embracing her other raging emotions again. "At the very least, Sasuke needs to know," she stated. She knew it was a long shot, but she had to try. He deserved to know the truth more than anyone else. Even if she had nothing to back it up, she would get him to understand, no matter how long it took.

"Assuming he doesn't think you're lying, what exactly would that accomplish?" Madara asked, humoring her. "He's spent his entire life hating his brother and most likely found peace in his death. What kind of friend would you be to take that away from him?"

Those mocking eyes and words were absolutely infuriating. Baring her teeth in a snarl, Sakura struggled to maintain control. "Shut up! I don't... Everything about this is wrong. I can't just accept it and do nothing!"

The Uchiha rolled his eyes and said, "All Hokages and the members of the council have dirty secrets that they keep to themselves. They are more than willing to get their hands bloody to keep order, and it appears that ever since I left the village, the leadership has only gotten more ruthless in their determination to keep Konoha alive. This shouldn't really surprise you..." He paused for a few seconds, clearly searching his thoughts. "The official story with Root is that it was shut down shortly after the massacre, but you were let in on the fact that it continued operations underground."

That... was true. Tsunade-shishou had told her that Root was still running, a fact not many shinobi knew. That bastard Danzo's organization wasn't even public knowledge. Only certain people were told about it once the Hokage trusted them enough, and among those, she was one of the few that knew it was still active today. "Yes, but-"

Madara cut her off, "Then it's not hard to imagine that there is more you have not been told, regardless of whether the current Hokage knows the truth of the massacre or not."

"Maybe so... there is probably a lot that Tsunade-shishou doesn't tell me..." Sakura admitted, then with a furious glare, she bit out, "But nothing at all justifies wiping out an entire clan that's been in the village since the start!"

Ever willing to play the devil's advocate, Madara asked, "Would you prefer the second outcome then? The Uchiha rebellion would have left Konoha in ruins. Actually, that doesn't sound too bad." His lips twisted up in a dark smirk.

Horrified, Sakura hissed, "You're sick. There should have been another way... something they didn't think of... so that everyone would have lived..."

He snorted, "Oh please, I learned first hand that when push comes to shove, Hokages will kill anyone to protect Konoha, no matter how much they proclaim to care about the ones they're stabbing in the back."

"What do you mean?" she asked, her glare turning into a frown. "And don't give me anymore bullshit about the darkness in the world and how life is suffering and pain."

"This is a perfect example of that truth, but to answer your question... Hashirama cut me down for the sake of this village," Madara replied, glancing off to the side, his eyebrows furrowed. She recalled the brief flash of his memory of fighting the first Hokage, and the commonly known history of the two.

"Does it really not bother you at all that your entire clan is dead?" Sakura asked in true curiosity. She had felt his emotions in the past, in dreams and while she was awake, and the look on his face made her think that he wasn't being entirely truthful with her about not caring about anything. Surely, he had to feel something regarding the demise of his clan. For some reason, she needed to confirm that he was human, just like everyone else. It was illogical, but she was beyond reason at this point. Her fury and disgust had coiled into a tight knot, barely holding together during the past few moments while she wore a mask of semi-calmness, and she knew it'd snap again on the slightest provocation.

Madara sighed, slightly annoyed, and looked over at her. "Do I need to repeat myself?"

Sakura shrieked, enraged, "You're a twisted bastard! If you really don't feel anything, you truly don't have a heart! Didn't you promise your brother that you'd protect them?! They were your family and they're all dead!"

It was only when Madara's eyes darkened and a suspicious look settled on his face that she realized her mistake. She stiffened, terrified and numb, all her rage fleeing her in an instant as she once again cursed herself for being beyond stupid and not thinking before opening her mouth. "How do you know that? I never told you that..." He said, narrowing his eyes at her. When she didn't reply, he stood up, towering over her, almost radiating menace. "Keeping more secrets from me, Sa-ku-ra?"

It was then that Sakura had a moment of clarity. She saw that this situation had two possible outcomes. Madara would get the truth out of her either way, but on one path, if he was forced to resort to violence and threats, their relationship, if she could even call if that, would be ruined and the two would never be on good terms again, effectively killing any sort of hope that Sakura had for getting information and knowledge out of the Uchiha. That path had the potential to spiral into many worse outcomes, and she innately understood that it would be extremely difficult to stop him from casting the Infinite Tsukuyomi.

On the other road, if she swallowed her pride, anger, and hate, took the first step and came clean willingly, then just maybe it would work out for the best. There was no guarantee that it would, and she might be making a big mistake, but she absolutely could not go down the other path. With a deep breath and an extreme amount of difficulty, as it wasn't a natural thing for her to do, Sakura let go of her ego and said, "Look, I've been having dreams of your past, okay? There isn't anything I can do about it." Madara's frown turned into an irritated glare. She held up her hands in a placating manner, "Don't give me that look. You've dug through all my memories."

A tense silence settled between the two, each second feeling like an hour. Sakura was incredibly nervous. It felt as if she had no control over anything, not a good sensation at all, but she held the Uchiha's gaze without faltering, a feat in itself. His dark eyes were intimidating, and he did not look happy about her revelation. She bit her lip, fighting the urge to twitch and fidget. Finally, Madara huffed and said, "Fair enough. What have you seen?"

"Some stuff," she replied, aware that the evasiveness would aggravate him. As Madara's eyes narrowed again, she quickly continued, "I'll tell you later. I don't want to talk about this anymore tonight. I'd really like to go to sleep. I need to be up in a few hours and it'd be bad for both of us if I don't take care of my body."

Sakura honestly was ready to pass out. It had been a stressful night on top of a stressful day and she was completely drained, physically and emotionally. She needed to sleep. It seemed like Madara agreed with her, as he nodded curtly and said, "Get some rest."

"Goodnight," she mumbled, standing up to leave. Before she could take a single step towards her room, a weight settled on the top of her head. Surprised, Sakura glanced up to find Madara looking away, a strangely uncomfortable expression on his face, but it indeed was his hand on her hair. He awkwardly patted her once, then quickly retracted his arm and stalked over to the window, pointedly ignoring her. She was left staring after him in confusion. After a short moment, her eyes widened and her cheeks flushed. She absolutely should not have the urge to go run her fingers through his hair. Shaking her head in denial, but fully aware this wasn't the first time she'd felt attraction to him, she fled to her room.

Tomorrow, she could deal with it tomorrow.

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><p><strong>Next Chapter:<strong> Sakura is annoyed with herself. Madara just adds to her problems. The author is looking forward to delivering more fluff.


	29. Temptation

**A/N:** Thanks for the reviews: Anon guest, TvonUchiha, easilyaddictedgirl, la canelle, Sunbattle, Of Healing Love, BlackFireFalcon, Kaelin, Musical cake, Amy, ckncreme, Sakura Hatsu, Shadowlove'scookies, mshccs, When God Abandoned The World, LullabyForAStormyNight122, AMidnightSilhouette, britneybish, The Imperfect Me, and anon guest number two! Again, thanks for all the reviews last chapter! Really appreciate it. Glad everyone is liking the story and longer chapters, and looking forward to the upcoming fluff. Of Healing Love, Madara pat her head because he appreciated her honesty and felt like showing it, even if it was really awkward for him to do, lol. Sunbattle, yeah I guess it might seem slow, but I'm really trying to flesh out everything properly. Like Sakura Hatsu said, it's a natural relationship and they're not going to magically fall in love with each other. It takes a lot of time to get there. I mean, it's 50k+ words now and Sakura is only just starting to admit to herself that Madara is attractive. It'll be a while longer before they even kiss. As ckncreme pointed out, Uchihas are bad at affection lmfao. Kaelin, hi again, nah it's not all Danzo's fault and Sakura is going to realize that sort of thing this chapter. There aren't any real evil people in Naruto or this story, just people with various motivations and differing beliefs.

Sorry about being a few days late with the update. Christmas stuff. Hopefully Sakura's logic makes sense in this chapter. It was a bitch to write but very very necessary. Forgive any grammar or spelling errors por favor.

_Sakura speaking to Madara in her mind._

**Madara speaking to Sakura in her mind.**

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><p><strong>-Temptation-<strong>

When a sharp tapping on her bedroom window woke her up, Sakura rolled over with a groan, blinking away the grogginess from a deep sleep. She still felt completely exhausted. Letting her eyes drift shut again, she nearly passed out once more, until the tapping became an annoyingly loud knock. Grumbling under her breath, she flung the covers off and stormed over to the window, pushing the curtain aside and flinging it open. "What?!" she hissed, upset about being woken up so rudely, before catching herself when she saw the masked face on the other side. "Ah, sorry Kakashi-sensei..."

"Yo," he greeted, "Just stopping by to let you know that the Hokage's given you the day off. You were up late last night and there's not much to do until the decryption team breaks the code." His one visible eye peered past her briefly, and she shifted to block his gaze. No need for him to see how messy her room was, or possibly spot any small sign of an Uchiha roommate.

"What about the autopsy?" Sakura asked with a yawn, rubbing her eyes and trying to wake up. She quickly checked for Madara's presence inside her mind, only to find him absent. He must still be in the living room. His chakra was perfectly masked, even as a clone, leaving no hint of anyone but her in the apartment.

"Shizune's handling that. Don't worry about it. You look like you could use a few more hours of sleep," her teacher said, his voice betraying mild amusement. She knew she probably looked like crap. Her hair felt like a tangled mess and she didn't dare to imagine the state of her face.

"More like a day," Sakura joked, yawning again. "Well, if Tsunade-shishou is fine with it, then I'm not going to insist on helping out." A small part of her protested the decision until she crushed it. Going back to sleep was far too appealing. Plus she'd be more of a burden than a help with her current level of mental awareness. Sure, trying to figure out Pein's abilities was really important, but so was sleep.

"See you tomorrow, Sakura. Make sure you get enough rest," Kakashi-sensei replied, leaving after she nodded. Glad that she had the day off, she shut the window, closing the curtain to block out the morning sun. Unfortunately, after collapsing on the bed and snuggling under the blanket again, she found herself unable to immediately fall back asleep. Her thoughts drifted back to the terrible secret she had learned last night.

It still really bothered her that her village had committed such a horrible act, but now that she'd slept a little on it, she could think about it without getting overly emotional. Sakura naturally sympathized with the Uchihas, since they had really gotten the short end of the stick, but they weren't blameless. Both sides had allowed their paranoia to get the best of them. Even the Third Hokage had given in, despite his attempts to negotiate with the Uchiha clan. She couldn't truly fault him for stepping aside and letting Danzo and Itachi do the dirty work to keep the village intact. She tried to imagine herself as the Hokage, Danzo, and even Itachi, and mused about what she would have done, but she couldn't come up with anything that would have prevented the massacre. Aside from actually properly talking and connecting with each other, that is... however she was fully aware that both Konoha's leadership and the Uchiha clan had been beyond that point and unwilling to give the other side the benefit of the doubt.

Sakura lost track of time as her mind raced from one topic to the next while she stared up at the ceiling. The Uchiha massacre, the Infinite Tsukuyomi, the history of Konoha, the villages and shinobi system, and Madara... she thought a lot about Madara. She still believed his Eye of the Moon plan was totally stupid and wrong, but it was clear that he honestly thought it was the only way to break the cycle of hatred. She sighed, recalling the memories of his past that she'd seen in her dreams and visions. He seemed so much different back then, when he actually still had hope for the world. She didn't know the full timeline yet, just broken fractions and bits and pieces, however she could see him becoming increasingly darker and more jaded as his life progressed, especially after his brother's death and when Hashirama was named Hokage.

Madara must have suffered a lot of pain and hardship to leave him without any hope for this reality. She had admitted during the course of their time together that he was right about a lot of things. The Uchiha massacre was a prime example of the darkness and hatred in the world. It was awful that it had happened. War and death in general were terrible, yet Sakura was unwilling to give up hope for a better future. Nothing would change unless people stepped up and actively pushed for it instead of continuing the cycle of hatred, revenge, and war. Hadn't Hashirama and Madara wanted to create a safe place for children to grow up? The villages were a good start. Not perfect, but it definitely a step forward. Small changes for the better would add up in the long run. Sakura truly believed that.

A smile slowly spread across her face. She could do it. She was a shinobi and she could endure anything. She might get hurt or fail, but she could stand right back up and keep trying, starting with Madara. She'd taken a small step last night when she'd been honest about having dreams of his past. Sure he was a dick and had done a lot she was still mad about sometimes, but in order to prove him wrong and show him that there was still hope for the world, she had to be the one to reach out a hand to him. She didn't need to forgive him for everything and she didn't know if that was actually possible, however she was capable of looking past it. She knew it would be very difficult to do. It was critical that she try her best and keep her temper in check. She was dealing with a man that had been hurt enough to want to run away to a dream world, after all.

Sakura's smile turned into a slight frown as she thought about her decision regarding Madara. Being genuinely nice to him was simple enough as long as she wasn't too overly kind, as that might come across as pity, but there was a matter she'd been putting off thinking about for a long while. Well, actually it was two things...

First... yes, she was attracted to Madara Uchiha. She couldn't deny that any longer. Not after last night when a simple touch had her blushing like a schoolgirl.

Second, she had terrible taste in men. Just awful. Madara was possibly even more of an asshole than Sasuke. Leave it to her to crush on a dark-haired bad-boy worse than her former teammate.

An evil little voice popped into her mind and whispered... but he's not a boy at all... Madara's a strong and powerful man and far more mature than Sasuke with much nicer hair and well-defined muscles and a deep voice and...

Sakura groaned and buried her face into the pillow, cursing herself as she felt her cheeks heat up. Okay, yes, he was a handsome man but she absolutely did not need to go and blush in front of him. That would be utterly humiliating and most likely would invite teasing from him. She just needed to think of interacting with him as a mission. Yeah, that could work...

Maybe...

Probably not.

She glanced at the clock on the bed-stand. Ugh, she was no closer to getting to sleep now than when Kakashi-sensei had been here an hour ago. Her thoughts were too annoying and persistent to let her pass out despite the extreme tiredness she still felt. At this point she should take sleeping pills and let medicine calm her mind instead of obsessing over how dumb she was to be attracted to another bastard of an Uchiha.

After untangling herself from the sheets and rolling out of bed, Sakura briefly checked herself in front of the mirror and smoothed down her hair. Her face wasn't too bad-looking, aside from the obvious need for sleep written all over it. Thankfully there were no dark bags under her eyes. Now to grab the pills from the kitchen and actually get some more sleep... She should really start keeping all her medicine in the bathroom so she didn't have to go so far to get it.

The first thing Sakura noticed after exiting her bedroom was of course Madara... a sleeping Madara with an open book on his chest who looked entirely too breath-taking on her couch. She froze, staring wide-eyed at the scene, uncomfortably aware that he could wake up and catch her looking at him at any second, but she was unable to turn away. Her gaze followed the contours of the muscles in his arms and chest, which she noticed only because his shirt was pretty tight. Was his shirt always so well-fitting? She swallowed hard as her eyes shifted to his face, drinking in the peaceful look as he slept. His features were framed beautifully by his long black hair... his soft, enticing hair... Sakura's fists clenched as she fought to maintain control of herself.

Must. Not. Pat.

Oh, but it was so soft. She knew it was, having touched it that one time he let her brush his hair for him. She bit her lip at the memory of it. How easy it would be to tip-toe over there and stroke it, just once... She was a skilled shinobi. Surely she could manage to touch the hair and not wake him up in the process. It would only take a few seconds and she could feel the smooth silkiness of his hair again...

No, no... No. Bad idea. Such a bad idea. She knew he was a paranoid man. There was a high chance that he was actually awake and faking sleep to see what she would do. With a great deal of effort, she tore herself away from the evil temptation and quietly made her way into the kitchen, grabbing the bottle of sleeping pills. She paused briefly, hesitating to take the first step back into the living room, almost dreading catching sight of Madara again. There was no escaping it, however. She'd have to go by him to get back to her room.

With a calming breath that did nothing really to settle her nerves, Sakura entered the room, trying very hard to not look at a certain sleeping Uchiha. She kept her gaze locked on bedroom door, and she was almost there when a soft sigh drew her attention. Her eyes flicked to Madara, catching him shift in his slumber, his head tilting to the side with parted lips. A memory of a charming smile from his past flashed in her mind and her fate was sealed.

Fuck. Damn it all.

It was going to torment her forever if she didn't do it. Disregarding the fact that this was very stupid and an awful idea, she silently and careful moved closer to Madara, her tired mind furiously debating if she should do it fast or wait to see if he woke up from her proximity. She settled on doing it quickly and getting the hell out of there. Holding her breath, she reached out and, as gently as she could, touched the closest spike of silky black hair, tracing her fingertips down the strands, her lips quirking up at the soft feel of it.

Madara's brow furrowed a split second later and she snapped her hand back as if his hair was on fire. It was a good thing she did, because sleepy black eyes opened and regarded her curiously. His gaze momentarily shifted to the bottle of pills in her hand, and a gleam of understanding appeared on his face. After a short moment, he said in a husky voice that did interesting things to her stomach, "You look like shit. Go back to sleep."

Masking her giddiness about getting away with her daring and epic stroking of his hair with a frown of mock annoyance, she replied, "Yeah, well, so do you." He didn't appear to be irritated, so maybe he really didn't know what she'd just done.

"It seems that pushing your body to a high level of exhaustion also affects me," he said, as he moved the book off his chest onto the nearby table. He shooed her away with a short wave of his hand and closed his eyes again. "Must be another annoying side effect of the seal."

Sakura didn't take the cue and leave right away. This was a good opportunity to take another small step forward. "I'm planning on getting a few more hours of rest," she told him. "When I wake up, want to go out and get some lunch?"

"Sure," Madara mumbled, "Now go away. I can't sleep with you watching me." He rolled over onto his side so that his back was facing her, a clear dismissal. It didn't anger her, though. She was still high on successfully sneaking a feel of his hair. Her cheeks warmed a bit when he accepted her proposition and she was glad he couldn't see the slight blush. Deciding that was a good time to take her leave and go back to her room, she enjoyed one last glance at the Uchiha and his pretty hair before quietly closing her door. After taking her pills, getting back into bed, and feeling the medicine start to kick in, Sakura's last thought before drifting off to sleep was that it was not a date. Nope. It was the start of a long, maybe impossible mission to renew the spark of hope inside Madara so that he wouldn't try to take the entire world into a dream. One way or another, she'd stop the Infinite Tsukuyomi from happening, and taking the path that didn't require using force was the better option.

So not a date at all.

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><p><strong>Next Chapter:<strong> Sakura takes Madara out on a not-date. It's really not. Honest.


	30. A Glimpse Under the Mask

**A/N:** Thanks for the reviews: TvonUchiha, Of Healing Love, LilithiaRW, Sakura Hatsu, ZoeyScarlet, anon guest, easilyaddictedgirl, Referee, Hanamaruko, ckncreme, Gal Can't Help It, britneybish, Amy, DeiDei-Lover1996, GoldenPiggy, The Imperfect Me, cassirycake, Moka-girl, and anon guest number two. Glad everyone liked the last chapter and Sakura's obsession with Madara's hair. Sakura is still hiding personal feelings and whatever behind Ino's seal, even if I don't explicitly say it each time. Moka-girl, yeah I'm not super happy with the early chapters and plan to rewrite them eventually after I complete the fic. Not going to delay updates to take care of that, though. I had to split their date into two parts, but the upside is that you all get double the fluff.

This was difficult to write. I couldn't decide on how exactly I wanted it to go beyond the main points I had planned for this chapter, so I ended up starting and stopping a lot, and had to push one important conversation to the next chapter because it didn't fit in well. Anyways, hope you enjoy. If there are any grammar errors I missed, do let me know so I can fix.

_Sakura speaking to Madara in her mind._

**Madara speaking to Sakura in her mind.**

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><p><strong>-A Glimpse Under the Mask-<strong>

Sakura was thankful that Madara had chosen and stuck with a younger form as a disguise when he had first started going out around the village. It definitely made it a lot easier to avoid blushing and embarrassing herself in front of him, which of course would lead to endless teasing and uncomfortable questions. That wasn't to say his teen self wasn't attractive. It was, in a boyish sort of way. His true body, however, really was a lot more appealing to her. Especially his beautiful, long raven locks. She was slowly beginning to admit to herself that she might possibly have a hair fetish, although there was a noticeable decrease in the urge to touch and pat his hair when it was shorter. Even so, her fingers still twitched now and then with the desire to reach out and stroke his mane as they walked together to the sandwich shop.

They had decided on the place during a quick discussion after Sakura had emerged from her room to an impatient Madara glaring at her. Apparently she had taken far too long in the shower and no, her clothes and appearance weren't important. While she did disagree, she hadn't pursued an argument with him, mindful of her choice to be more positive in her interactions with him. She was just as hungry as he clearly was, not that he'd admit it. So without much banter or talk once the restaurant had been chosen, they'd left her apartment and started to make their way through the busy streets of Konoha after quickly refreshing his clone body. There was barely any pain when he split from her these days, which was nice.

If there was one thing that grounded Sakura and kept her from getting too swept up in Madara's looks, it was the man himself. Specifically, it was almost anytime he opened his mouth. Sure, he'd somewhat grown on her over the months and she didn't find his personality as repulsive as she did when they first met, disregarding the whole Eye of the Moon plan. He was still pretty much an asshole when it came down to it.

"Two on the roof on our left," Madara said, and Sakura snapped out of her musing and flicked her eyes up in that direction while trying to maintain a casual demeanor. It took her a few seconds, but she did spot the Anbu pair hidden in the shadows under the roof outcrops. The village was on high alert and teams of the highly skilled ninjas had been dispatched throughout the village, with the highest concentration near the wall.

"Mm," she hummed, confirming her sighting. It was slightly worrying how easy he'd been spotting them, but Sakura was not in the mood to let those thoughts consume her. She was far too hungry and still a bit worn out. She could stay awake the rest of the day though and get back on a better schedule. Maybe Tsunade-shishou would need her tomorrow. She had pushed the issue of Pein and the threat of an invasion to the back of her thoughts, determined to try and enjoy this free time.

"That's a dozen now," Madara said with a smirk. "See? I told you that this generation of shinobi is a disgrace. Back in my day, all of them would have been killed on the battlefields. They're all a war away from being just names on a stone."

Sakura rolled her eyes, shrugging off his snide remark. So far everything he'd said since they had left her apartment had been negative. "Oh come on, I'm sure it wouldn't be that bad. Medical jutsu has advanced a lot since the village was founded. That would definitely save some lives," she countered.

Madara glanced at her with an amused expression. "Unlikely. If you were facing my clan and I back then, you'd be the first I'd target. Only a fool would leave a medic-nin untouched."

"That's implying I wouldn't kick your ass for trying," she shot back with a grin, mock punching one fist into her other palm to emphasize her point. He managed to pull off an offended look at her statement, but the glint of humor in his eyes totally ruined it. His reply was delayed as a small group of civilians passed them. There was a silent understanding between the two to be careful of unwanted eavesdroppers, and their conversation occasionally had to be paused because of it.

When they were once again out of earshot, Madara said, "Your extreme level of delusion is mind-boggling. Do you honestly think you would have stood a chance against me? My skills and battles are legendary." He chuckled, and Sakura couldn't help the small quirk of her lips in a hint of a smile. If he ever found out that she thought it was kind of cute when he tried to be threatening or brag when he had the appearance of a teen younger than her, he'd probably deck her halfway across the village.

"I assure you that I could have given you a run for your money," she answered, intending to leave it at that since they were close to the sandwich shop now. Madara's amused and disbelieving snort, though, promoted her to continue. "I did defeat Sasori of the Red Sand, and I am very stubborn when it comes to overcoming a challenge. I mean, I've put up with you and not given up for how many months now? If I had lived back then, you'd have another rival besides Hashirama."

When he didn't immediately reply with a come back, Sakura glanced over to find any trace of playful humor absent from his face. She frowned, confused at his reaction. Had she said something wrong? She opened her mouth, but hesitated in uncertainty. A few more seconds passed, and Madara finally said, "Hn, perhaps." It was a clear message that their banter was over. It left her feeling awkward and surprisingly disappointed. She had been enjoying their verbal spar since the start of the 'Spot the Anbu' game.

Sakura put the matter aside for now as they entered the restaurant, the small bell on the door announcing their presence to the waitress at the front. They were quickly taken to a table in the back and given menus. It was a good spot near a window that gave a wonderful view of the Hokage building and the mountain behind it. Luckily there weren't many people in the place, and no one was particularly close to them, so if they kept their voices down, they could talk safely. Neither of them needed more than a minute to decide on an order. Madara ended up picking a club sandwich platter and she got a tasty looking chicken combo.

Despite the opportunity to converse more without being overheard, the silence persisted as they waited for the food to be prepared. He was still brooding for whatever reason, staring out the window across from her, and Sakura felt it wise to give him time to be a typical Uchiha. She spent the next ten or so minutes twirling her knife around and musing about what had set him off. She tried to ignore her stomach growling from the delicious smells that drifted out from the kitchen.

Sakura was a smart girl and she quickly put the pieces together. It wasn't the first time he'd gotten pissed or acted weird when she mentioned Hashirama's name. Back in the early days with him, he'd purposefully made her trip in front of a crowd in a form of petty revenge for saying that name. She had to admit, his relationship with the Senju was beyond her comprehension and she just could not wrap her mind around its complexity. Most of his memories she'd seen in her dreams involved Hashirama, and they obviously were friends in childhood and later when building Konoha, with that long bout of fighting in the middle before their clans had come to a truce. It had really started to go downhill when Madara hadn't been named the Hokage. Maybe that was it...?

Catching a movement out of the corner of her eye, Sakura spotted the waitress gathering their order together on a tray. She put her knife down and turned her focus to her Uchiha companion, only to find him still looking out the window. She followed his gaze and realized he'd been staring at the stone face of the first Hokage the entire time. With a mental groan and facepalm, she narrowed her eyes in calculated determination. She was not going to let his weird... thing about Hashirama ruin this day. It was a golden opportunity to take another step forward... however... she didn't know if she could avoid the topic of the Senju. She planned to tell him today about what she had seen of his past, and naturally, of course, that meant bringing up Hashirama. Hopefully he wouldn't shut down again. Even getting pissed off was better than that.

"M- Tajima," Sakura said, gaining his attention. She'd nearly slipped up and called him by his real name, but thankfully had caught herself before making that mistake. "Food's here."

"Finally," he grumbled with a scowl, "I was considering trying to eat my chair." As if sensing their level of hunger, the waitress was quick to deliver their order, fleeing the scene after catching the murderous look on Madara's face. Even as a teen, he could be seriously scary.

"Not if I got my hands on it first," Sakura said with a small grin as she sliced her food in half. She hoped he would rejoin their game of sarcastic quips and stop sulking about whatever was bothering him regarding Hashirama.

Her gamble was a success. As he picked up one of his own sandwiches, he quirked an eyebrow and asked in a mocking tone, "Is yours not good enough? Hmm?"

"Mine would already be in my stomach," she replied with a wink, patting the back on her chair after putting her knife back down next to her plate. Madara huffed and said nothing, opting to begin eating. Sakura followed suit and quickly threw out any care for manners, wolfing down the food as fast as she could. She hadn't realized the extent of her hunger and the chicken was really tasty.

"Do try to actually chew your food and not just inhale it," Madara taunted, causing her to glance up from her meal. His lips were curled up in a half smirk and she noted that he was also over halfway through his meal. She was tempted to call him a hypocrite but decided against it.

"Shut up, I'm hungry," Sakura said, ignoring the way the Uchiha rolled his eyes as she resumed eating. Once they were finished and she had paid the waitress for the food, she decided that they could have a talk before leaving the restaurant. Plus she really didn't want to get up right now. With a sigh, she shifted into a more comfortable position, feeling satisfied and full. "That was good."

Madara nodded in agreement. "It was acceptable." Sakura smiled to herself. He always had to be a downer about things, didn't he? Clearly it was too hard to admit the food was very delicious.

"So, I believe I promised to fill you in on the details of the dreams I've been having," Sakura began, immediately catching his attention and focus. "Most of the more longer and vivid ones are from your childhood, mainly the time you spent at the river with Hashirama."

"Go on," he said, motioning with one hand for her to continue. He didn't look upset or closed off from the mention of the Senju's name, so she took it as a good sign. She couldn't really read his expression. He was carefully guarding his reaction.

"There have been some brief flashes of your life from the village, but it's really jumbled together and a lot is missing. I saw you on top of the mountain with Hashirama talking about the Hokage title, and a bit about your clan not believing your warnings, oh and a short scene in some sort of dark shrine when you were about to leave the village. I saw a little bit of your final fight with Hashirama... the Kyuubi was there. And..." Sakura hesitated for a few seconds, then said, "I saw your brother dying." It took all her willpower to not wince. She had felt his emotions when Izuna had died and knew how much it had affected him.

Madara's only reaction to that last bit was a slight narrowing of his eyes. His face had been carefully blank during her whole revelation. She wasn't sure if she should say anything, and telling him she was sorry for his loss would probably only make it worse. Finally, he said, "I see. Anything more?"

"No... I haven't had any dreams of your time after that last battle, and I actually haven't had any recently for whatever reason. Not sure why," Sakura replied with a frown. It really was puzzling why they had stopped. She hoped they would start up again, and if they did, she would make sure to tell Madara right away. Hopefully it would earn a little bit of his trust. That would really help with her plan.

He hadn't commented on her last statement yet, and she didn't like to think that he was brooding again underneath the neutral expression. Her mind raced to come up with something to put him in a better mood, and she almost slapped herself when it came to her. "Oh yeah, I can't believe I almost forgot this one... it's my favorite. I saw a little girl get terrified from the mere sight of your face after you helped her up," Sakura recalled with a grin. She didn't tell him that one was a vision, not a dream. She felt it was okay to keep that information to herself. The more important matter was the details of the vision itself.

That did it. If she hadn't been looking for it, she wouldn't have seen the way his body relaxed very slightly, the tense draw of his eyebrows disappearing. She liked him better this way. It was a lot more fun talking to him when he was engaging her and not shutting down from painful memories. With a mild smirk, Madara said, "I remember that. Ungrateful whelp."

Aiming to ensure he didn't slip back into his weird funk, Sakura teased, "If we could weaponize your face, I'm sure we could terrify all the children in the world and half of the adults."

"Only half?" Madara shot back in a haughty tone. "Please, give me more credit than that, Sakura." She couldn't help but snicker at the image of thousands of people cowering in front of the Uchiha. In her mind, his scowling face was a hundred feet tall with blazing Sharingan eyes. The ridiculousness of the mental picture only made her laugh harder. Her amusement seemed to rub off on him, because he looked like he was enjoying the thought of it too, his dark eyes dancing with silent humor.

She covered her mouth with a hand in an attempt to slow down and control her laughter, and also to hide a light blush after seeing the smile on Madara's face. A real, genuine smile, not a smirk. Once again, she was eternally thankful that he looked like a teenager younger than her. If his older self smiled like that, it would have left her flushed red and stammering. As her blush and laughter both faded, she was struck by a thought. Maybe their interactions during the past hour had been a small glimpse into what Madara was like before he had given up on the world.

Sakura really hoped so. Maybe she could dig a little deeper during the rest of the day and get another look underneath his mask. Her heart fluttered with determination and something else that she couldn't put her finger on.

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><p><strong>Next Chapter:<strong> Part two of Madara and Sakura's not-date, guest starring Ino.


	31. In Which Sakura Does Not Get Jealous

**A/N:** Thanks much for the reviews: TvonUchiha, ckncreme, Sakura Hatsu, ZoeyScarlet, easilyaddictedgirl, Blossom-channn, Moonlit Sapphires, cassirycake, anon guest, Amy, scipio96, britneybish, Of Healing Love, Hyuuga-san, Corrina, The Imperfect Me, PrettyChelsea, and darkness is sweet! Glad everyone liked the bit of humor and enjoyed part 1 of their not-date. Easilyaddictedgirl, go read the note for chapter 26 for answers to your review. I'm starting to dive into that subject. Corrina, no spoilers for your question on when Madara will notice Sakura's attraction other than that there's an important shift in this chapter (but yeah there will be future teasing of course). Darkness is sweet, thanks for letting me know! Again, I really do appreciate all the reviews from everyone, and special thanks to the consistent reviewers.

Sorry for being a few days late with the update. I rewrote the Ino scene twice before I was happy with it (and I'm still kinda eh about it all but I need to move on), and had to push a conversation off again (yeah it's the same one as last time). I realized it didn't feel right and came too close to being OoC for Madara right now. It'll happen later on after he opens up more. So if this chapter seems short, that's why. Forgive any grammar or spelling errors please.

_Sakura speaking to Madara in her mind._

**Madara speaking to Sakura in her mind.**

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><p><strong>-In Which Sakura Does Not Get Jealous-<strong>

After leaving the restaurant, Sakura offered to spar with Madara, mindful of his interests. She had no doubt that he definitely would not really enjoy going shopping or taking a stroll through the park. That would be far too girly for him. To her slight surprise, he declined, telling her that she shouldn't push her body today. He also voted against going to the bookstore or library, and so they ended up wandering the streets. Sakura suspected that he was using it as an excuse to locate more Anbu guards, which did worry her a bit, but she tried to make the best of it and played along. She even told him a few random stories whenever a thought or inspiration struck her.

After an hour or so, he broke the idle banter after passing by a few civilians browsing a small open shop. Shooting her a glance through calculating eyes, he said, "You're being suspiciously well behaved. I expected this outing to include a barrage of questions or an annoying lecture regarding... several topics."

She rolled her eyes at the 'well behaved' comment. Still, Sakura knew right away what he was talking about. With a smile, she replied, "Nope. Sometimes it's nice to forget about everything and enjoy a day without fretting about worries and problems." And there truly was a lot to stress about, the most important one being the Infinite Tsukuyomi.

Giving her his full attention, Madara quirked an eyebrow and asked, "Are you sure you can afford that luxury?" This time it took her a few seconds to realize that he was most likely talking about the threat of an attack from Pein, however, she didn't answer right away, instead waiting until they had turned a corner onto an empty street. She stopped near a bench that was framed by a pair of small trees. He followed her lead, eyeing her expectantly.

Once she was sure no one else was around, Sakura shrugged her shoulders and said, "Probably not, but I've spent a lot of time recently yelling and screaming and being upset. I know that stuff is important, and believe me, I haven't forgotten it. I just really need a break from all of it. Besides, I don't think there's anything I can say at this point to change your mind about your plan."

"Hn. You've not given up, though," Madara noted, regarding her with slightly amused curiosity. He had picked up on her phrasing instantly, not that she'd been trying to mislead him. It was pretty impressive how sharp he was. "You still intend to try and stop me."

Sakura grinned. "Of course! That's my ninja way." She left it at that. The less he knew about her decision, the better chance of it working.

With a smirk and a mild glare, Madara crossed his arms and told her, "Whatever idea you're scheming up behind that mental block will fail."

"Maybe, but I'll try my best regardless," she said, and then interrupted him when he opened his mouth to reply. "Madara, let's just drop it for now, okay? I really don't want to get into another fight about this. It's been a nice day so far and even an old man like you can appreciate that." Her lips twisted into a cheshire cat grin as she finished.

The offended look on his face when she called him old was so worth whatever insult he came back with. Compared to how they used to talk to each other, there was a distinct lack of animosity, and the verbal jabs were a lot more playful. She now honestly enjoyed the sarcastic conversations. It was a significant improvement, and it gave Sakura hope for her plan. One small step at a time, and maybe she really could truly connect with him and show him that this world was worth fighting for, despite the horrors of the past. There was still a long road to go, though, and she had a feeling that a critical moment would be required for success. What that moment could possibly be, she had no idea.

The tension was starting to build in the air between the two of them as neither looked away from the other, challenging smirks on both of their faces. The cunning gleam in his eyes, which normally would worry her, actually had her heart pounding in anticipation, and she let her competitive streak overtake her in order to not think about how intense the moment was. She wanted to win this one-up fight that was about to happen. He had bested her many times in the past, but not today.

A sudden movement behind Madara's left shoulder tore her gaze from his, and her eyes widened with horror.

No... Not now...

Sakura sent a futile prayer up to the heavens, but the universe had already decided that it hated her and yes, her day was going to be ruined.

Demonstrating her godawful timing, Ino pranced towards them, waving enthusiastically. "Hey Forehead! And Tajima! Are you two on a hot date? How cute!" As he heard the blonde's voice, Madara turned slightly and caught sight of the intruder, greeting her silently with a nod. Even from this angle, Sakura saw the wicked and conniving grin appear on his face, the same one he wore back when Ino had first stumbled upon them in the Uchiha compound. The embarrassment that had followed had been nearly unbearable.

Sakura was absolutely not going to let this be a repeat performance. As her friend reached them, she said in a no-nonsense tone, "Yeah we are, Inopig. So if you don't mind, shoo." She pointed in a direction that would lead far, far away from here.

"Have some manners, Sakura. She's your friend, isn't she?" Madara said, smirking at the discreet glare she fixed him with. Of course he would try to undermine her for his own amusement. He had taken so much delight in her suffering last time.

Ino naturally just ate it up. "How polite! You're so adorable!" She cooed over Madara a bit, and Sakura shot him her own taunting smirk. He looked very uncomfortable and increasingly stiff from the attention. Although it was quite funny, she wasn't sure how long he'd put up with it until he snapped and tried to murder her best friend. She figured she could enjoy it a little bit more, but nearly faltered when Ino began to stroke his hair.

She was not jealous. Nope. And she definitely did not want to smack her friend's hand away from Madara, and her eye definitely was not starting to twitch. It wasn't like she owned the Uchiha's hair or anything, but damn it... Ino had no right to touch it. No right at all!

The blonde clearly had a unique talent to notice subtle reactions and most likely was doing this whole thing on purpose, because as soon as Sakura began to feel not-jealous, Ino swooped over and swung an arm around her. "I am so honestly sorry if I interrupted something, though!" she said, not sounding sorry at all. "I do hope I didn't mess up a potential kiss... You're blushing, Sakura." Ino had an evil, teasing grin on her face.

True enough, Sakura's cheeks were flushed red. "Well that's your fault, isn't it!" she hissed, pushing the blonde away, trying to mask her reaction as anger. Honestly, for fuck's sake! It was totally Ino's fault for mentioning that word and causing an image of Madara kissing her to flash through her mind. The thought of it made her heart clench and butterflies danced in her stomach. This was getting way out of hand fast. Not good. She was losing control of the situation. She took a few deep calming breaths, avoided looking at either of them, and tried to not think about kissing Madara.

As Sakura struggled to tame her slowly fading blush, Ino turned her attention to the Uchiha. She hummed and said, "You know, I never did find out the details about how you ended up seeing her naked. Sakura's been so busy lately. I rarely see her anymore." She sighed dramatically for emphasis, the sound bringing Sakura's focus back to the present. She tried to fight it, but her gaze immediately settled on Madara, who had recovered from the unwanted smothering from Ino and was now regarding Sakura with a great deal of amusement and a hint of curiosity.

Shit. Did he suspect something?

She didn't have a chance to internally freak out about whether he knew if she was attracted to him or not, because he jumped back into the game. With an expression of mock innocence that she saw right through, he said, "How awful. Well, I can tell you that it involved a shower." As he finished, Ino's face lit up with a grin like she had just won the biggest jackpot ever.

Oh god, nope. Nope. This was her limit. Sakura was so done with this conversation. She knew what he was trying to do... what they both were trying to do... and she was not going to let either of them, Madara especially, push her buttons and unleash her temper. With all the self-control that she possessed, she forced herself to calm down and let go of her natural urge to lash out. Placing a steady hand on Ino's shoulder, she fixed her gleeful friend with a stern look and said, "Look, Pig, I haven't had a chance to spend much time with him either so... If. You. Don't. Mind." A lie, of course. However, she only felt a twinge of guilt.

Ino sighed dejectedly, but couldn't keep up the act for more than a few seconds. With a knowing smile and a wink, she said, "I can take a hint. I'll catch up with you later." She paused for a brief moment to let Sakura know that she was serious about getting together again. Feeling more guilty now about how little time she had spent with her friend over the past few months, Sakura nodded. Satisfied, Ino bid them both farewell. "Have fun on your date!" The blonde soon disappeared from view, leaving Madara and Sakura alone.

The Uchiha looked rather disappointed about how that encounter had played out. Crossing his arms with a slight frown, he said, "Well, I didn't get as much entertainment out of that as I had anticipated."

Sakura, on the other hand, was very pleased with how it had happened. Although it hadn't been perfect, she had recovered from her near slip-up and avoided severe embarrassment. She shot her companion a half-smile. "After all I've been through since I met you, I like to think that I've grown up quite a bit and have better control over my temper." Her lips pulled up into a teasing smirk. "But do forgive me for ruining your fun," she drawled, rolling her eyes. When the silence ticked on, she glanced back over at Madara, and was rendered breathless.

It was similar to how he had looked at her before first calling her by her real name instead of brat, only far more intense. The way his dark eyes assessed her kept her frozen in place, unable to break away from his gaze or speak. Like the previous time, she felt something change between them that she couldn't put into words. Her heart nearly stopped when he smirked at her. He looked absolutely stunning, and if he had been his adult self, Sakura might have fainted from the sight. "So you have," he murmured, then turned and started to walk away, leaving her gaping after him, thankful that he couldn't see the pink color appearing on her cheeks once again.

She might have ended up standing there in a stupor for who knows how long, but he paused a few yards away. "Are you coming, or are you having trouble keeping up with an old man?" he taunted, glancing back at her with a challenge in his eyes, smirk still in place. Sakura snapped out of it and fought back her blush before it became too obvious. With a deep breath, she regathered her wits and caught up to him to walk by his side with a genuine smile on her face, determined to fully enjoy the rest of their not-date.

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><p><strong>Next Chapter:<strong> Sakura gets a surprise. Is it from Madara? Yes, yes it is.


	32. Misdirection

**A/N:** Thanks for the reviews: , TvonUchiha, Sakura Hatsu, Of Healing Love, cassirycake, darkness is sweet, Gal Can't Help It, Blossom-channn, la canelle, dirdiri, easilyaddictedgirl, LChan3706, mshccs, The Imperfect Me, xNightDreamerx, GoldenPiggy, pibinezz, Amy, Dear U. x .U, teonik04, anon guest, passionatecrow, magykalheart, anon guest 2, and xxdeideifanxx. First of all, no, I've not abandoned this story. I just had a couple rough weeks at work and was super burned out, so I took a break (if I try to write more than 3k words max per chapter I'll also burn myself out, so apologies but I'm not planning on extending the chapter lengths). I intend to get back into the weekend updates now. I'm glad everyone enjoyed their not-date, and thanks again for all the awesome reviews. I don't really have much to say in this note. Hope you enjoy the update! If I missed a question you wanted answered, remind me in a review.

This chapter will be the last bit of fluff for a while, with Pein soon arriving and all. Forgive any grammar and spelling errors please.

_Sakura speaking to Madara in her mind._

**Madara speaking to Sakura in her mind.**

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><p><strong>-Misdirection-<strong>

Once again Sakura was woken up by an annoying tapping on her window, and once again it turned out to be Kakashi-sensei. She needed to report in today to help sort through the reports from the outposts and the data collected so far from the autopsy. After her teacher left, Madara prompted her to form a clone, which she quickly did. He took possession of it and left her room so that she could get ready for work.

Sakura followed her morning routine in an odd sort of daze. Her heart felt heavy, and she knew exactly why. The fears and worries she had pushed aside to enjoy yesterday were back, hovering over her like a dark cloud. It was selfish, but she wished she could live that day over again. It had been fun... and the way Madara had smiled...

Her cheeks warmed and a quick glance in the mirror confirmed the light blush she now sported. Sakura sighed, directing her mind to other things to kill the flush. She had done enough blushing yesterday and she didn't want to give the Uchiha an opportunity to tease her again. She was already beyond paranoid about any hints that could reveal her crush on him. She didn't want to think about what would happen if he did find out.

Not only would it be really awkward... it would also lead to a very possible rejection, which was painful to think about in more ways than one. That in itself scared her, because if even thinking about the pain of rejection bothered her so much, then her feelings for Madara were more serious than she was willing to accept. She tried to tell herself that she only thought he was hot and that was it.

Once she was dressed and presentable, she left her room, finding a plate of toast waiting for her in the kitchen. Not the most fancy of breakfasts, but perfect to eat while she walked. It wasn't the first time Madara had cooked for her, however... the fact that he had thought about and done this for her still made her smile.

Sakura poked her head into the living room and found Madara flicking through one of her medical books. After secretly admiring the way his hair fell over his face and shoulders for a few seconds, she called out, "I'll probably be gone all day." The only reply she got was a slight nod letting her know that he had heard her. Strangely annoyed that he hadn't even looked at her, she said, "You know, it would be super helpful and awesome if you could tell me what you know about the Rinnegan."

That got his attention. He met her gaze and replied, "I'm not inclined to spoon-feed you anything about that." Sakura huffed and rolled her eyes. She hadn't truly expected to get a real answer out of him, but at least he had looked at her. Part of her felt stupid and childish for being bothered by it, yet she also felt satisfied that he was now paying attention to her. She decided to blame the crush for making her act weird. Before she could think of a suitable come-back, Madara said, "Actually, on second thought, I will give you something regarding it when you get back."

Sakura blinked, her mouth half open in shock. Truly curious, she asked, "Really? Why the change of mind?"

Madara slightly shifted his position on the couch... almost like he was fidgeting. Sakura raised an eyebrow at the sight. He looked back down at the book and muttered, "Yesterday was... nice." He... he was kind of... scowling? As if it pained him to admit it.

It was a very good thing he had refocused on the book because the blush was back in full force. If he ever found out how adorable she found this moment he would absolutely murder her. Sakura turned around to prevent any chance that he would see the flush that dusted her cheeks. "Yeah, it was," she agreed quietly, then stepped into the kitchen to grab some toast and fight back the blush. By the time she had scarfed down one piece, her face was back to its usual color. On the way out, she paused by the entrance to the living room again. "Promise you'll behave while I'm gone?" she asked with a mildly teasing smile.

Sakura dodged to the left to avoid a pillow that had been aimed at her head. "Get out before I throw something more lethal at you," Madara growled, the mock glare on his face betraying the lack of any real anger. She covered her mouth with her hand to stifle her laughter. He didn't miss her reaction, shooting her an exasperated look.

"Yeah, yeah. I'll pick up dinner on the way home," she said, then grabbed her bag and another piece of toast and left her apartment, making her way through the streets to the Hokage building. Somewhere along the way, she realized that the gloomy mood from the morning was back, and that she had forgotten about it during her brief interaction with Madara. It was funny... compared to how angry and miserable he had made her during the beginning of their time together, how he now brightened her day. She silently cursed up a storm as she felt her face heat up fucking again.

Although there was a lot of paperwork involved, the day seemed to pass by pretty fast. None of the outposts had reported any sign of Pein, which was a good thing, but the autopsy progress was currently stumped by the black rods that were fitted throughout the corpse. The interrogation of the prisoner had gotten nowhere. The Rain shinobi's mental defenses were surprisingly good. Towards the end of the afternoon, Sakura reported in to Tsunade-shishou, and learned that Naruto was off doing some sort of top secret training in a classified location. She was also ordered to join the decoding team starting tomorrow to help them out with figuring out the message on the Toad Sage's back.

Sakura briefly toyed with the idea of telling the Hokage about Madara. Although the seal on her tongue would prevent her from directly stating it, she was smart enough to come up with ways around it. It was the perfect opportunity to do so, with Madara back in her apartment and not watching her, but every time she started to really think about it, the memory of the Uchiha's smile would pop up in her mind and she just... couldn't do it. She knew she should... it would be the right thing to do for her village... however...

In the end, she didn't try to say anything. She felt immensely guilty and torn about it. Her heart on the other hand... it felt... okay? Had she made the right decision to willingly keep Madara a secret? It was a bit surprising that he had left her alone today. Maybe that was a sign that he was growing to trust her more? If so, then she couldn't blow it and she had made the right choice to keep quiet. Both options had their pros and cons, but she had committed to a plan regarding the Uchiha and she was going to stick with it. She felt better about the whole thing with every step back home, stopping briefly to pick up ramen for dinner. As she neared her apartment, Sakura remembered that he had promised her some information about the Rinnegan.

She picked up the delicious smell as soon as she stepped through the door. She knew that scent very well... cinnamon... her favorite. It was touching that he knew what her favorite foods were. With a happy smile, she dropped off the ramen in the kitchen and quickly trotted into the living room, her eyes first catching sight of Madara on the couch, still reading her medical book, and judging by the pages, making pretty good progress too. "You made cookies?" she asked as her gaze shifted to the plate on the coffee table. She froze, eyes wide. "Wha... this is..."

"The Rinnegan pattern, yes," the Uchiha drawled, the smug smirk on his face confirming her silent question, much to her horror. She knew exactly what he was trying to pull.

"No... no! This doesn't count, Madara!" Sakura protested, jabbing a finger at him, her attention flicking between his taunting grin and the cookies. Each of them had the circular pattern of the Rinnegan carefully drawn on with white icing. The rings were all perfectly done, too... no wobbly lines or ovals. How typical that he was a master of icing baked goods. He just had to be good at everything, didn't he?

Madara crossed his arms and chuckled to himself, clearly very amused at her reaction. "As far as I'm concerned, I've kept my word," he said with a shrug. He picked up one of the cookies and offered it to her.

Sakura stuttered, torn between outrage and the absolute hilarity of the situation. "This is not... It's not funny at all... Pein is a serious threat and..." It was the way he quirked an eyebrow that finally cracked her. To her mortification, she burst out laughing, tears forming in the corners of her eyes. She couldn't help it. He had gotten her good. He really had. She clasped a hand over her mouth and tried to calm down. It took her over half a minute before she was able to get control of herself again, but the damage was already done. He had won this round, and she had no ground to stand on and argue her case now. They both knew it.

With a nonsensical grumble, she snatched the cookie from his hand and took a bite, giving him a nasty look to play up her fading anger and frustration. It didn't phase him at all, his smirk still in place. And of course the cookie itself was delicious, the best she'd ever tasted. Grudgingly admitting her defeat, she said, "These are good... fantastic really..." She glared at him again as she tried not to shove the entire cookie into her mouth at once, ignoring the way he was silently laughing at her. Seriously, it was better than any batch she had ever cooked, and even though she had lost, she found that she could appreciate the joke he had pulled on her. "I'm still mad at you," Sakura informed him when she was done eating.

Madara smiled, setting off a storm of butterflies in her stomach. "Of course," he said, and handed her another cookie, chuckling as she gave in and took it. Muttering some excuse about getting milk and bringing the ramen out, she retreated to the kitchen before her cheeks started burning yet again. After pouring two glasses of milk, Sakura placed a hand over her racing heart and closed her eyes. Yep. She was right. It definitely was far more intense when he smiled as an adult.

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><p><strong>Next Chapter:<strong> Everything starts to go downhill.


	33. Invasion: Part I

**A/N:** Thanks for the reviews: Sakura Hatsu, Mishil, Dear U. x .U, magykalheart, mshccs, CrystalSapphiremoon, Amy, TheseBattleScars, Musical cake, anon guest, Gal Can't Help It, Of Healing Love, britneybish, The Imperfect Me, and Pikas! Glad everyone liked that last bit of fluff for now. Yep, time for downhill, but it will lead to a better place, trust me. Madara's not going to be happy about what Nagato does at the end of this battle, and Sakura's going to see a new side of our favorite Uchiha. We will get to see another chapter of Madara's thoughts. I'm thinking chapter 40 for that.

I had some fun writing this chapter. I love horror stuff so it was neat to try my hand at a little bit of it. I'll be adding more detail into Pein's attack on Konoha. Nothing super graphic, but enough to hopefully convey the seriousness of it. Oh yeah, and as for something Sakura says at the end of this chapter, remember she's not aware of all the details from Jiraiya's battle with Pein. As always, forgive any grammar and spelling errors.

_Sakura speaking to Madara in her mind._

**Madara speaking to Sakura in her mind.**

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><p><strong>-Invasion: Part I-<strong>

Sakura spent the next few days working with the decryption team trying to decipher the message Jiraiya had left Konoha. During her day off, Naruto had figured out the key to the code, which turned out to be one of the Sage's perverted books, before leaving to go train somewhere. She was a bit miffed that Tsunade-shishou hadn't told her where he was going or given her a chance to say goodbye, but she understood the need for secrecy. Although Pein hadn't show up yet and there was no sign of him, the threat was still very real. An attack was bound to come eventually in retaliation for Konoha's invasion into Rain territory and the fact that Naruto was one of the two Jinchuurikis not in Akatsuki's possession.

It took quite a while to figure out how Jiraiya had written the code, and Shiho, a clever girl who had been brought in to help with the decoding, was the one to finally crack it. After that came the hard part of solving what exactly the message meant. It was far easier said than done, Sakura soon found out. Madara wasn't much help either, more inclined to revel in his amusement as they struggled to make sense of everything than to actually be useful for once. He had tagged along in her head for each of the days she'd spent working with the decoding team. His comments were slightly annoying, but Sakura didn't let it get to her and focused on the work. Part of her secretly enjoyed his company despite how useless he was being. Well... actually he wasn't entirely useless. His reactions were a great way to determine which theories were wrong.

"The code reads 'the real one isn't there.' So perhaps those six Peins were just using genjutsu and that other female Akatsuki member had some kind of special technique. She could have launched the real attacks at Jiraiya while they hid her," Shikamaru mused, a thoughtful frown on his face. It was an interesting idea, but Madara's sudden bark of laughter in her mind told her that it wasn't even close to the truth.

"I don't think so," Sakura said, her thoughts racing about the possibility of genjutsu. "Remember what the toad sage Fukasaku told us. Jiraiya was physically stabbed and killed by all six of them at once. Though... he also said Jiraiya killed three of the six with a weapon himself, and then they came back to life... It could have been done with an extremely complex genjutsu, but it just seems too far-fetched..." She trailed off, paying close attention to Madara's reaction.

Unfortunately, he was on to her play and kept quiet. The feeling of a smug smirk was all she could pick up. With a huff, Sakura grumbled, '_Are we even close? I mean, the Infinite Tsukuyomi is a powerful illusion, so it's not a wild theory that it could be something like that_.'

'**Who knows?**' Madara offered oh-so helpfully. She grit her teeth, keeping her frustration in check. It would do no good to start a fight, nor did she want to ruin their improved relationship, and she definitely refused to beg. She had to be the better person here. '**Keep trying, I'm sure you'll figure out the truth eventually**,' he drawled.

'_Gee, thanks for the vote of confidence_,' Sakura muttered, and a few seconds later her lips quirked up in a small smile as she realized he had indirectly answered her question. He really made it hard these days to be irritated with him for longer than a minute or two. '_Thank you_.' She suppressed a grin when she felt a mental eyeroll from the Uchiha. It was kind of cute that he didn't take gratitude or compliments very well.

"There's no 'too anything' when it comes to the Akatsuki. This is a group that had two immortals in their ranks," Shikamaru pointed out. That was true, but she was sure that the genjutsu route was incorrect. It had to be something else that they weren't thinking of.

Before Sakura could steer the conversation in another direction, Shiho pretty much did that for her when she said, "In any case, we'll have to continue following whatever patterns we can find until new information comes in."

They spent the next few hours not getting anywhere with the code. Madara had made it very clear at the start that he wouldn't flat out tell them the answer, and Sakura had quickly figured out that he knew the truth of Pein's secret. While it was frustrating that he wouldn't cooperate, she did value the small bit of help he was giving. She didn't bother to ask why he was keeping quiet. Whether it was a test for her or just for his own amusement... it didn't really matter. She couldn't and wouldn't force him to give them more than he was willing to do.

The team talked in circles, running through theory after theory. When the idea that Pein was an alien came up, Sakura decided she was ready to give up for the day and wait for the autopsy or prisoner interrogation to give them another clue. She opened her mouth to suggest a break when the room shook and the sound of a distant explosion rattled the windows.

"What's that?!" Shikamaru said in a worried tone. The tremors died down as suddenly as they had appeared, but that did nothing to alleviate the sense that something was horribly wrong. They all shared a worried look and got up to peer out the window.

"What...?" Sakura gasped as she caught sight of the village. Pillars of smoke were drifting up from multiple buildings and the dull glow of fires only made the scene worse. Clouds of dust were hanging in the air, and the faint sound of screams and cries made her bite her lip. What the hell was going on...?

'**He's here**,' Madara remarked, all trace of humor gone from his voice. '**Language**,' he scolded when Sakura swore colorfully. She had expected an attack from Pein, but not in the middle of the village! How had he gotten past the walls and evaded being spotted by any of the outposts? This was really, really bad.

"Let's go!" Shikamaru ordered, snapping her out of her shock. They leaped out the window and split up without saying a word to each other, aware of their respective duties. Shiho stayed behind to clean up their work with the code.

Sakura headed directly for the smoke and fires, weaving through crowds of panicked villagers. They all had similar looks of terror on their faces, but thankfully none of them looked injured, just dirty from the smoke and dust. She did not let their frightened cries shake her. She was trained for this. She reached out and grabbed the shoulder of a middle-aged man, stopping him as he tried to run by her.

He struggled, lashing out in natural fear, but she caught his arm. "Hey, stop. Stop! It's okay! I'm not going to hurt you! I'm a Konoha shinobi. Calm down," Sakura commanded. He tried to jerk out of her grip, his eyes wide, and she pushed him back into wall, holding him there until he fell still. He looked defeated, his brown hair plastered to his forehead with sweat and streaks of dirt on his cheeks and neck. His clothes were absolutely filthy too. She felt bad about manhandling him like this, but she needed answers. "Are you good now?"

He was breathing hard and looked to be on the verge of tears, but he nodded shakily. "Y- yeah," he stuttered. Sakura slowly let him go when he seemed calm enough. His eyes darted back and forth from her to the stream of villagers still fleeing behind them. He clearly wanted to get back to running for his life, so she decided to make this as quick as possible.

"Can you tell me anything? Did you see who did this?" Sakura asked. She knew Pein was behind the attacks, but if she could get a physical description from this guy, that would help a lot and give her a slight advantage. Each of Pein's bodies had a different ability and the toad sage had given details about all of their appearances during his debriefing. No doubt all five of the remaining Peins were here, plus that woman probably. Judging by the spread of the fires and smoke, the bodies had split up. Her main priority was helping and healing the injured, however... she needed to be prepared for a chance encounter with any of the Peins. Madara was keeping quiet so she was on her own here. His silence was both good and bad, and he was paying keen attention to what she was doing... and... she really didn't have time to worry about it.

The man shook his head wildly, "No... no... I- it was big... something... eating... I don't..." He shuddered and then bolted away from her as he lost control, letting fear overwhelm him again. Sakura didn't bother to chase him, pondering his words with a frown. He hadn't made any sense at all...

'**Well, he was a lot of help**,' Madara commented. She sighed, but didn't reply, instead returning to making her way through the crowds, pushing towards the direction they were running from. Explosions boomed periodically from every direction, followed by rising screams. The ground rumbled now and then and Sakura had to stop and help up a few villagers as they tripped and fell, prioritizing children and the elderly.

As she rounded a corner, the panic and screams from the crowd seemed to dramatically increase. Sakura immediately spotted the reason why. A large, thick cloud of dirt and dust was moving towards them and... something... was twisting around inside of it...

Something alive...

A small child tripped in front of the dust and a woman stopped, screaming her name... the girl's mother. The thing in the cloud lunged out... jaws open, fangs dripping with saliva... multiple legs squirming in anticipation...

Sakura didn't let that glimpse of the monster stop her from dashing forward with enhanced speed and slamming a chakra-heavy fist into the beast's side, crippling it in one blow. It was some sort of insect summon, she realized as the body split under her hand, coating it with nasty bug blood... juice. Sakura grimaced. So gross. Ew. But more importantly... that meant the Pein body that used animal summons might be nearby...

She made sure the bug... a centipede from the looks of it... was dead, shaking off as much blood from her hand as she could, before turning and walking to the child and her mother. "Are you okay?" she asked, keeping her voice steady and calming, discreetly wiping off the rest of the bug blood onto her pants.

"Yeah... thank you!" the mother replied, hugging the girl to her chest, her face filled with relief. The child shivered and whined, clutching her bloody knee, tears threatening to fall from her terrified eyes. Both of them looked very shaken but glad they were alive and the beast was gone.

Sakura knelt down beside the two and got to work, hovering her hand over the girl's knee, healing chakra quickly sealing the cut. "Oh good! Your wound wasn't that deep," she said, talking mainly to distract the girl from giving in to panic again. Once the child's knee was done, she stood up and smiled. "You both should get to a shelter. Just follow the crowd and you'll be okay."

The mother and girl nodded and with another heartfelt thanks, took her advice and soon disappeared from sight. Sakura noted that all the civilians were now gone from this area, but still... there were more booms and screams in the distance... which meant more injured and more work to do. She glanced once more at the corpse of the giant dead insect and paused in shock as she noticed something that had been hidden by the dust before.

'_Madara... why does that thing have the Rinnegan?_' Sakura whispered, her stare glued to the purple ringed pattern that decorated the beast's eyes. It was one thing for six human bodies to have those eyes... but animal summons too? How was that even possible?! What the actual fuck was going on here?

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><p><strong>Next Chapter:<strong> What indeed.


	34. Invasion: Part II

**A/N:** Thanks for the reviews: magykalheart, TvonUchiha, cassirycake, mshccs, britneybish, RedGoddessEclipse, Of Healing Love, The Imperfect Me, TheseBattleScars, Pikas, GoldenPiggy, TheSecretNames, MissMikasa, Miyukino, Sadistic Pacifist, LoonyTuned, TheRYU, zero10296, Kasuka-chan, Lily Noir, anon guest, November Ember, Duner89, anon guest number two, AnonymouseXI, and Murithemagnificant.

Thanks for everyone's reviews and kind words. I am really sorry it took so long for me to put another update out. I had a bunch of personal stuff going on irl to deal with, but it's mostly sorted out now so I'll be getting back into the weekend updates. And honestly, taking some time off was good. I was getting way too anxious over these chapters and obsessing over every detail and whether my writing was good enough. Taking a step back and re-reading the story as a whole helped me start really enjoying the fic again. Plus Madara showing up in the anime again is great motivation.

Anyways, I want to thank all the returning and new reviewers again. I really do appreciate your support even during my time off. Lily Noir, thanks! I do try really hard to keep Sakura and Madara in character. I noticed that with Sakura in some other fics too. If she's constantly bitchy or always helpless it gets really annoying, and I can't even read Madara stories where he's not IC. I'm getting close to a major turning point with their relationship, almost 70k words in. XD And it'll be longer for a kiss to happen, but yeah, I hate rushed romance too so it's worth taking the time to get there. Duner89, you're half right with the latter part of your review. ;)

Hopefully there are no grammar errors. Enjoy! Oh yeah, and I also made some minor edits to the previous chapter, but nothing super important, so if you don't want to re-read, you're not going to miss anything (just a correction to the number of Peins Sakura thought were left).

_Sakura speaking to Madara in her mind._

**Madara speaking to Sakura in her mind.**

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><p><strong>-Invasion: Part II-<strong>

'**Mmm...**' Madara hummed in her mind, clearly debating whether or not to answer her question. Sakura didn't try to push him, aware that any sort of prodding would backfire, even though the situation was dire and she didn't have more than a moment to spare. Finally, after countless times where the Uchiha had declined to be helpful, luck fell on her side. '**The same reason there are six Peins running around with the Rinnegan. Well, it's a little different with animal summons, but the principle is the same**,' he explained with a mental shrug of his shoulders. His tone was casual, but she could sense an underlying purpose to it. He was not one to ever impart knowledge without thinking about it carefully. It had to be a test, then.

Sakura frowned, going over his words again and again as she stared at the purple ringed eyes of the dead centipede. Something was nagging at her, as if she was on the verge of figuring out a critical bit of information. The pieces were there, she was sure of it. All she had to do was put the puzzle together. She was aware that Madara was quietly watching her thought process, which only confirmed her suspicions. She was close, but knowing he was studying her was actually fairly distracting.

She took a deep breath and refocused before her mind wandered down a path that she'd rather not let the Uchiha see. She tried to actively think about the sight in front of her rather than the sharp attention of the man inside her mind. It was actually harder than she expected, considering the human tendency to obsessively think about something that is trying to be ignored or forgotten, but she refused to fail. With another calming breath and disregarding Madara as much as she could, Sakura shifted her attention to the black rods in the insect's body. They looked very much like the ones that were in the corpse of the one Pein that Jiraiya had killed, just bigger.

Wait a second... wasn't the Pein in the autopsy room the animal summoning one? Then how...? How was she standing here looking at one of Pein's animal summons if the one that actually summoned them was dead in Konoha? It made absolutely no sense at all but there was no denying the truth in front of her. Sakura's mind raced, combing through all the information she knew.

The same reason there are six Peins running around... six Peins... there should be five... but Madara said six... dead centipede... animal summons with the eyes too... black rods in all of them... the real one isn't there... animal summoner... the real one... six Peins... more than six pairs of Rinnegan eyes... isn't there... the real Rinnegan isn't there...

The real Pein wasn't there...!

Sakura stiffened in shock with the realization. All the Peins here in the village, and all the animal summons with the same eyes, all of them were copies! None of them were the real one, the original Rinnegan, the real Pein. And not only that, somehow the animal summoner had been replaced. Which meant any Pein killed could be replaced. "Oh my god," she whispered, nearly overwhelmed with the understanding of how very bad this was. It was so very fucking bad. The real one wasn't there, so all the village would be fighting were goddamn copies that could be fucking replaced when one of them died.

'**Took you long enough**,' Madara drawled, '**I was starting to wonder if you would ever figure it out. You're mostly right, by the way. A bit wrong about the details, but not too bad overall. You can thank me for the hint now**.'

"Shit," Sakura swore, burying her face in her hands, her head still reeling from the devastating conclusion she had arrived at. How were they supposed to beat Pein? Unless they found the real one... but good luck doing that while the copies were wreaking havoc in the village. She absentmindedly muttered a quiet thanks to Madara, and vaguely registered his dissatisfied snort. She was far too worried about Pein to give much thought to the Uchiha's unhappiness with her level of gratitude though.

She was shaken out of her despair by a familiar voice. "Sakura! Are you okay?" Iruka asked as he landed next to her. She nodded mutely, still half in shock. "The Akatsuki are attacking Konoha to try and find Naruto! I've already told Tsunade. There will probably be an announcement soon."

"Come on, Iruka!" a voice called from a short distance away. Sakura glanced over to see a small squad of shinobi waiting on top of the tail of the dead centipede. All of them, and Iruka too she noticed, wore a look of intense worry with a hint of panic. She definitely knew that feeling.

Stress started to fray her nerves. She had to tell someone, anyone about Pein's secret. Even if Madara objected and stopped her, she had to try. "Iruka, I think I-"

"You get to the hospital and tend to the wounded," he ordered, interrupting her, much to her displeasure. "The place is already filling up." Her heart clenched at that news, her medic instincts kicking in. She was needed there, and who knows how many people were injured and how many were already dead, but Pein...

She grit her teeth and fought the urge to tear her hair out as he turned to leave and rejoin the waiting squad. "Wait, I-"

"There's no time, Sakura! Go!" Iruka barked, his command punctuated by two successive explosions not too far away. The worry on his face doubled. He didn't even wait for her reply, leaping away along with the rest of the shinobi towards the rising fire and smoke. She was left looking at their fading forms, feeling helpless and hopeless. The opportunity had been right fucking there and she had blown it.

"Okay," Sakura whispered to herself, then clenched her fists and snarled, "Okay! Fine!" Even if she hadn't managed to pass on the information about Pein, she was absolutely not going to sit here and do nothing. She would not be left behind again... she had trained so hard and so long for this, to be strong when something terrible happened. Regardless if the Peins running around were just copies, they were still doing serious damage and she could help save lives. And if she had a chance to pass along the intel, she would.

But of course she didn't get the opportunity. Her luck must have run out with Madara finally answering her question. She didn't see any Konoha shinobi on the way to the hospital, only groups of scared civilians running from the fires. When Sakura arrived at her destination, she immediately joined a handful of other medic-nins desperately trying to heal the wounded. There was no way she could send any of them out to deliver information. Not with all the victims here...

And god, there were so many of them. She took charge and had the patients sorted out by minor injuries and those with serious wounds that required urgent attention. There were several civilian doctors helping in any way they could. She had them work on taking care of the more critical minor problems, like broken bones. Sakura and the other medic-nins focused on healing anyone with a life threatening injury. It was hard, draining work, made worse by the distant sounds of the continuing attack on Konoha and the pained groans of the victims in the room.

It seemed like more and more injured poured into the hospital every minute. She couldn't keep up. Some of the wounds were really awful... impaled abdomens, severed limbs, mangled faces... Sakura realized that she and the other medic-nins would run out of chakra at this pace if they kept fully healing people, so she instructed them to just heal the wounded to the point where they weren't in danger of dying. That helped only slightly.

"Damn it! I can't heal everyone at this rate!" she hissed to herself as she spotted another large group of Pein's victims stumble into the hospital. More than half of them had serious injuries and would bleed out unless the wounds were closed soon. She and the others were being increasingly overwhelmed. Biting her lip, she poured more chakra into healing her current patient.

'**Then stop. This is pointless**,' the Uchiha's voice cut into her mind. Her body jerked a tiny bit in surprise. He had been quiet for so long and she'd been totally absorbed in her work. Had he been watching her this whole time or what? No time to muse about it.

A wry smile twisted her lips. '_You know there's no way I'm going to give up, Madara_,' she said as she finished healing a large gash in the chest of a middle-aged man. There, he would survive now.

'**Your ninja way, huh?**' he murmured, and she could feel a mental echo of the smile she wore on her face, along with an eyeroll. It wasn't outright mockery, but perhaps familiar teasing in a way. It was strangely calming though, soothing the building panic that had been growing inside her. A quick glance up showed a very welcome sight that helped settle her worry even more... Katsuyu had split up into hundreds of miniature versions of herself and a dozen of them were now slithering into the hospital.

'_Yeah, besides I'm a medic-nin. I took an oath. It's my duty_,' she told him as she scooted over to a woman who had a metal rod halfway stuck through her stomach. She placed one hand of chakra onto the area where the metal impaled her flesh and grabbed the end of it with the other, preparing to remove the object.

'**Shit!**' Madara swore suddenly, something that alarmed her greatly. He almost never cursed. A feeling of severe wrongness filled her and all her senses were screaming that she had to get out of there right now.

'_Madara! What are you doing?!_' Sakura yelped as he shoved her aside in her mind and took control of her body, ducking down to cover her head. She perceived a brief second of terrible pressure, an awful sensation that she had never felt before, and then everything went to hell.

There was a roar of sound and wind and everyone was screaming, glass and rocks and dirt and people swirling in a torrent of death in the air all around her for a horrid moment, and then she was covered by a heavy, slimy body and all she could feel was her heart pounding. Sakura began to struggle in her mind to regain control, desperate to see what was happening because she knew it was bad and she had to see, but Madara held her down for what seemed like ages until Katsuyu pulled away. Silently, he passed the lead back to her.

Coughing, Sakura sat up and rubbed the dirt from her eyes. As soon as she could she looked around. "Wha... What happened..?" It took a minute for the dirt in the air to clear away enough, but when it did, her blood ran cold.

There was no hospital anymore. In fact, all of the buildings as far as she could see were gone. All that was left was massive amounts of rubble and scattered bodies and clouds of drifting dust.

'**To think he would use that. How ruthless**,' Madara commented as they surveyed the damage. His tone was more neutral than anything, but the carnage was definitely not affecting him in the least.

"Oh my god..." Sakura gasped out as she took in the sheer amount of damage, tears beginning to fall from the corners of her eyes. How could she do anything now? How could anyone do anything now?!

Konoha, her home... there was almost nothing left. What... what had Pein done...? An anguished scream tore itself from her throat as despair gripped her soul. Naruto... if only Naruto came back... At that very moment, another cloud of smoke burst from the center of the ruined village, and Sakura's prayer was answered.

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><p><strong>Next Chapter:<strong> Sakura gets a surprise victory after such a horrible tragedy. Madara is not happy at all. Nope. That's an understatement.


	35. Invasion: Part III

**A/N:** Thanks for the reviews: Duner89, LChan3706, Kihoko-san, ewaa, Badger94, LoonyTuned, When God Abandoned The World, magykalheart, Polar, mshccs, cutehoney4, The Imperfect Me, anon guest, girlpod50000, and OLASZKECSKE. I really do appreciate everyone's feedback. Yep, Madara is going to be mad for a while, and he's not going to take it sitting down. It'll be a turning point for Madara and Sakura, though. Not going to give out spoilers! Especially regarding the romance part. You'll have to wait and see.

I hope I explained Sakura's thoughts and actions well enough this chapter and kept her in character in accordance with the manga. Madara's gunna have a recap chapter soon to explain his actions and thoughts, so don't worry if you can't make sense of his side right now.

After some consideration, I updated the description of the story and removed the 'drabble' label from it. The chapters can't really be considered drabbles, and I'm putting a lot more details into the story and writing more words per chapter than I originally expected I would. Speaking of which, I did try to summarize chunks of the Pein battle here, since we all know what happens, but had to leave enough setup for Madara's comments.

Hope you enjoy the last bit of the Pein arc! Review if you like the chapter please. It would mean a lot. Also, I used a specific suffix for Hinata when another Hyuuga is talking about her. I think I got it right... but if I'm wrong, please let me know and I'll fix it (and the same goes for any spelling and grammar errors. I'll do a re-read tomorrow after sleeping to see if I missed anything. Long chapter is long and I might have slipped up somewhere). Thanks~

_Sakura speaking to Madara in her mind._

**Madara speaking to Sakura in her mind.**

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><p><strong>-Invasion: Part III-<strong>

As Katsuyu's mini-clones slithered off the surviving shinobi and villagers amid the ruins of the village, Sakura strained her eyes to see what had caused the cloud of smoke, but she couldn't make out anything. The rubble of the hospital was some distance away from the edge of the large crater that had been carved into the center of Konoha. The sheer amount of power that was required to do something like that... to wipe out almost an entire village... was terrifying. Sakura rubbed the tears from her face, the horror inside her slowly turning into numbness. It was so hard to accept the devastation she was seeing... She needed to get a grip and focus. Panic and despair would not be helpful.

"That's..." a male voice spoke on her left. Sakura glanced over and found herself looking at a roughed-up Hyuuga. His Byakugan was trained on the parting cloud of dust in the center of the crater. "It's Naruto!" he gasped.

Naruto! He was here?! Oh god... he was here and Pein had torn apart Konoha looking for him to take the Kyuubi. Her heart clenched and she swallowed heavily, scared for her friend's life. It was only a matter of time until... "All six Peins just arrived... Naruto is going to fight them!" the Hyuuga suddenly exclaimed.

Sakura tensed up and her mind raced. She could not let Pein capture Naruto and take the Kyuubi. She knew that Madara was somehow connected to the Akatsuki after the battle with the masked man, and his ultimate goal was to recombine all nine tailed beasts into the Juubi and become its Jinchuuriki... and that would mean Naruto's death, not to even mention the other consequences... She didn't even want to think about that right now. Sakura grit her teeth. There was absolutely no way she was going to let her friend die as long as she could still breathe.

She started to stand up to go to Naruto's side. Surely she could do something to help... anything at all... but her body froze, snatched from her control. '_I have to help him_,' she said, struggling against the Uchiha's iron will, frustration bubbling up as she made no headway.

'**No. You're low on chakra and no match for the Rinnegan. I won't have you getting us both killed**,' Madara replied in a firm tone, refusing to let her go. The more she fought against him in her mind, the harder he pushed back against her. It was like trying to move a mountain... impossible.

She knew he was right, that going to Naruto would most likely get them both killed, but the thought of doing nothing at all was unacceptable. '_He's my friend..._' Sakura pleaded, more in general than to the Uchiha. She hated how weak she felt right now, and she was sure that Madara wanted Naruto to lose and Pein to get the Kyuubi. However... regardless of that... he was right... if she tried to fight, she would die.

'**No, Sakura**,' he said. It was clear he would not be swayed on the matter. It tore at her. Once again she was left behind and couldn't stand by her teammate's side even after all the effort and time she had put into training. But getting herself killed wouldn't help Naruto at all...

'_Bastard_,' she hissed, feeling extremely guilty as she accepted control back from Madara and didn't make another move to go to her friend. The Uchiha said nothing, and she felt the majority of his attention shift to Naruto's location while still obviously keeping an eye on her to make sure she didn't try to risk her life... both their lives. Sakura shook her head and pushed aside her feelings of guilt and self-pity. A defeatist attitude was not helpful nor very becoming of a shinobi. Maybe a chance would come where Naruto would need her. She had to be ready to do whatever she could. Whether Madara objected or not was a bridge she'd cross when or if it came to that.

Despite her resolve, there was too much dust and distance to see what was going on in the crater. All she could do right now was have faith in Naruto and be patient. After a minute, she heard a faint sound. Sakura glanced at the Hyuuga. "What's going on? I can't see from here."

A look of awe was on the man's face. "Amazing! He took out one of Pein's bodies with a single blow!" She sucked in a shocked breath. Naruto did that?!

'**Heh, not bad for a fool**,' Madara hummed, sounding mildly impressed. Of course his praise was topped with an insult, but it was still a compliment.

'_His name is Naruto_,' Sakura said, a small smile on her face. Maybe Naruto could win! Her friend had a habit of surprising her and overcoming even the worst situations.

The Uchiha scoffed after reading her thoughts. '**Unlikely. He's up against the Rinnegan. Six pairs of them... well, five now**.' Her faith wavered for a second after hearing Madara's words, but she doubled down and put her hope in Naruto as the roars of animal summons and combat drifted up from the center of the crater. She wanted her friend to win and prove Madara wrong. Part of her was tempted to argue with the Uchiha in defense of Naruto, however that would distract her and she needed to maintain focus, so she resisted the urge. Actions spoke louder than words, after all.

A heavy thud near her made her jump in surprise, and she turned to see a medium-sized toad summon gently setting down a very familiar blonde woman... "Shishou!" Sakura gasped when she saw the state the Hokage was in. Her teacher looked terrible. Her skin was sunken in and wrinkles lined her face and body. She looked even worse than the age she was supposed to be. Without thinking, Sakura immediately rushed to her side.

Carefully, she picked up her teacher's frail hand and held it, measuring her chakra levels and finding them dangerously low. "It's all right now..." Tsunade panted, but Sakura wasn't convinced. She glanced at her Shishou's forehead and found the purple rhombus missing. The Hokage must have used her Strength of a Hundred Seal to pass her chakra to Katsuyu in order to save as many as she could. Sakura was still working on her own seal. It was a subconscious effort at this point and well worth the chakra she fed it constantly. The downside was that it limited her more than usual and she had to be mindful of that until the rhombus appeared. However, once released, the seal was an amazing battle advantage. If only it didn't take so long to prepare...

Sakura was snapped out of her thoughts when Tsunade passed out and began to tip forward. She caught her teacher and leaned her back, then began to use the small amount of chakra she could spare to stabilize her condition. It was agonizingly slow work. She tried to split her focus between healing the Hokage, monitoring Naruto's fight with Pein as much as she could, and keeping tabs on Madara's attention. The Uchiha seemed to be mostly concerned with how the battle was going and wasn't bothered with her effort to help her teacher. As the minutes passed by, a couple of Tsunade's personal guards arrived, explosions boomed in the crater, and animal summons roared and snarled.

A loud sound echoed from the battle and three large shapes went flying out of the village. Sakura gaped at the sight before realizing that they were huge toad summons. "What the..." she muttered, a concerned frown forming on her face. Was Naruto okay?!

'**Shinra Tensei**,' Madara's voice explained as the toads disappeared from her range of view. '**It's the same jutsu that he used to destroy Konoha**.' Why the Uchiha had decided to be a little bit helpful today with his informative answers, she didn't know. She couldn't complain though.

That technique... Shinra Tensei... was extremely worrying. Sakura turned back to the battle and tried hard to catch sight of Naruto, but she was still too far away to see through the dust clouds hovering in the air and at this point she could not leave Tsunade's side even though she wasn't in a critical condition anymore. The healing glow around her hands vanished after she double-checked the Hokage's status. '_I wish having you sealed in me gave me the Sharingan_,' she sighed.

Madara laughed, the sound making Sakura's heart skip a beat despite the horrible situation. '**We're on the same page there**.' She quickly locked the memory of her reaction in her mental vault and prayed that he hadn't noticed. Actually... now that she thought about it... he didn't seem to be overly concerned about not being able to see what was going on.

'_You think Naruto's going to lose, don't you?_' Sakura asked, listening closely for any more sounds of combat. She was still worried about her friend for sure, but as each moment ticked by, her hope and faith grew stronger.

'**I don't think, I _know_**,' Madara said with a smirk in his voice. She bit her lip, thinking quickly, then nearly slapped herself when she realized there was something she could do to help Naruto.

Sakura leaned close to the mini-clone of Katsuyu that had protected her during the village's destruction. The slug had remained close by both her and Tsunade afterwards. "The real Pein isn't there. We need to find the real one," she whispered before Madara could object. Katsuyu could communicate with all her bodies and pass information to a large amount of people.

"Shikaku Nara, Shikamaru Nara, and Inoichi Yamanaka have also arrived at that conclusion and are working out how to track the real Pein down," Katsuyu replied, much to Sakura's relief. Thank god someone else had figured it out too, and without a hint from a certain Uchiha. Madara mentally rolled his eyes at her, a clear sign that he was confident in Pein's victory.

She really wanted to prove him wrong... for Naruto to prove him wrong. "Okay good. Let me know if they need my help," she said, then checked on Tsunade again to make sure she was still stable. Her chakra levels remained very low, but she wasn't in danger of dying now. Sakura was worried about the disappearance of her seal. It wasn't supposed to vanish like that.

After a moment, she realized that the sounds of the battle had died down. She turned to the Hyuuga and asked, "What's going on over there?" She noticed he looked tense, a bad sign.

"Pein has Naruto pinned down. It looks like they're talking..." he answered. Sakura stiffened in shock and she felt fear clench her heart.

No way... Come on, Naruto...

'**Hn, like I said**,' Madara chuckled in her mind. Frustration reared its ugly head again. If she tried to interfere, the Uchiha would stop her, and if she did manage to break through his control... Pein would kill her. So what could she do right now...?

"Hinata-sama just attacked Pein to try and save Naruto!" the Hyuuga cried out, his white eyes wide open as he watched a fight she could not see.

"Hinata did?!" Sakura gasped, beyond surprised at the news, a feeling shared to a lesser degree by Madara, who she could tell was more amused by the development than anything. She knew... she knew Hinata loved Naruto... but there was no way she could stand against Pein. Still... she was selfishly glad that someone had intervened, even if it was dangerous. If she could just manage to free Naruto...

Sakura noticed another burst of dirt rise up from the crater and frowned, praying that Hinata was alright. She glanced at the Hyuuga's face and her worry increased tenfold. He was frozen with a look of despair etched onto his features. "Hey-"

Suddenly, a wave of the most terrible chakra washed over her and a horrifying roar of rage rose from the battlefield. Sakura swallowed hard as she realized what had happened. It was just as terrifying as the last time.

The Hyuuga sounded as scared as she felt. "Pein... he stabbed Hinata-sama... then Naruto, he..." The shinobi trailed off as he lost his voice. Sakura waited with tense breath as he cleared his throat. "I... I don't know what to say... I can see six tails! At this rate, he might fully transform!"

Six... six tails... oh god... last time it had been four...

'**Now this fight is getting interesting**,' Madara commented, as if this was worthy entertainment for him. If he had his own body right now, he'd probably be grinning. Sakura did not share that sentiment. Not at all.

"Katsuyu, please hurry and tell everyone to get out of here and take shelter," she ordered the slug, trying to think fast. She barely took note of Katsuyu's affirmative reply. In his fox form, Naruto was a danger to everyone around him and couldn't distinguish friend from foe. After getting everyone to shelter, what should her next move be...?

Sakura realized that the roars that had been echoing up from the crater were not nearly as loud. Again, she had to rely on the Hyuuga. "What's going on?"

"Naruto and Pein are getting further away from the village! Pein appears to be running away," he said. The toad summon that had brought Tsunade to her laughed at the news.

"This is no time for laughter!" Sakura scolded. "Now's our chance to get Hinata! And we have to do something about Naruto! He'll attack anyone when he's like this." Unfortunately, the only one who could do anything about Naruto was Yamato-sensei, and he was out of the village on a mission.

Shit.

Even though she had not been able to see most of Naruto's fight, the large blasts of pure energy and light from far beyond the village's walls were obvious to anyone. Bijuu bombs... such great, terrible power...

Sakura did not allow herself to be distracted for more than a few seconds. Now that Naruto and Pein were out of the village, she used the opportunity to get to Hinata, leaving Tsunade in her personal guards' care. Thankfully, Madara was remaining cooperative at the moment and she had no issues reaching the injured girl, arriving shortly after Gai's team. They had been out on a mission. It was pure luck they had returned to Konoha when they did. She did not have time to catch up though. Neji looked really worried about his cousin.

She set to work healing Hinata's wounds. After removing the black rod from her abdomen, Sakura assessed the damage and found that several of her organs had been pierced. The injury was not immediately fatal, but it would kill her if left alone. Fixing soft tissue was always slow work and she was seriously low on chakra, which meant it would take even longer to heal the stab wound as she let her natural reserves replenish.

Sakura was so focused on Hinata that she lost track of time until Madara's voice interrupted her thoughts. '**The Kyuubi's chakra is gone...**'

'_Eh?_' Sakura cast her senses outwards and realized he was right. Wait... what did that mean? Had... had Naruto been defeated...?

"Naruto suppressed the Kyuubi by himself. Now he's facing off with Pein one last time," one of Katsuyu's mini-clones said. A surprised and pleased grin spread across Sakura's face. Naruto! He could really do it! He could win!

'**Useless brat**,' Madara growled, frustration and anger lacing his tone. Sakura was confused about his remark. It didn't make sense applying it to her or Naruto... so maybe Pein? Hopefully the Uchiha didn't try to take control of her and...

It didn't matter. Naruto was winning, and she trusted him. Pushing aside all worries, including her concern about what Madara might do, Sakura refocused on Hinata and continued to heal the damaged organs. She vaguely registered the conversations going on around her. Gai wanted to go support Naruto. Katsuyu advised against it. Naruto had a plan.

As Sakura finished the last bit of work on Hinata, Katsuyu announced the most amazing news. "Naruto has defeated the sixth Pein."

Immediately Gai's team and the scattered Konoha shinobi that had gathered around while she healed Hinata burst into relieved and energetic conversation that was far too cluttered to even try to follow. She shared their joy though. Naruto had won! He had saved them all and saved himself! He was okay. He wasn't going to die. Her heart felt so much lighter and she grinned with happiness.

Madara, on the other hand...

Sakura's smile slowly slipped from her face. The Uchiha had become dangerously quiet. She couldn't read his carefully guarded emotions at all. It... it was actually making her really nervous. She had never seen him like this. She was afraid to say anything to him, let alone try to gloat.

She carefully kept her thoughts as blank as possible, worried that she might accidentally set him off. He could easily take over her body and attack and kill her friends and everyone around her. He had promised way back at the beginning not to do that, but his silence was very unnerving. She didn't dare risk it.

Time seemed to stretch on forever. When Katsuyu said that Naruto was going to confront the real Pein, Sakura tensed up when she felt an unreadable shift from Madara. While the slug explained that Naruto didn't want any help, Sakura held her breath, completely on guard and focused on the Uchiha in her mind. It was hard for her to pay much attention to anything else. She didn't know what he was thinking... if it bothered him that she was monitoring him or not... he was completely silent and unresponsive. Her joy from Naruto's victory had totally faded away.

Seconds felt like hours as the conversations resumed. Hinata eventually woke up and asked what was going on. She was thankful that Naruto was okay. Gai kept arguing about going to help Naruto. Katsuyu's replies were always that Naruto was talking to the real Pein. Sakura wondered if the feed of information from the slug was keeping Madara from lashing out or not. She just didn't know... and it scared her. She was incredibly worried for the lives of everyone in the immediate area, and she was actually concerned about Madara too. It bothered her to see him like this...

A strange feeling tickled the edge of her sense. She couldn't put her finger on it... and as soon as it appeared, it was gone. Sakura glanced around, her confusion turning into mind blowing shock as people that were dead began to sit up.

She only had a few seconds to marvel over it before a tidal wave of fury and rage erupted from Madara, crippling her with the sheer intensity of it and quickly overwhelming her mind.

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><p><strong>Next Chapter:<strong> Sakura figures out a bit of crucial information and is forced to make a hard decision. Madara is still not happy at all. Naruto is surprisingly helpful.


	36. Aftermath

**A/N:** Thanks for the reviews: TvonUchiha, anon guest, LoonyTuned, The Mistress Snape, magykalheart, The Imperfect Me, Pikas, mshccs, Sorophyne, la canelle, FuckYouBeta, mugiwaraya, Aliagame, and britneybish! Awesome seeing both new and regular names. So glad everyone is enjoying the story. Lol yeah LoonyTuned, Madara didn't expect for Nagato to switch sides. I'm dropping some hints about what Madara's been up to before I write his recap chapter. I wonder how close everyone's guesses are about that. We'll see!

It was actually kinda difficult to summarize what Naruto says this chapter. You'll see what I mean. Hope I did okay, but if I missed anything or made a mistake, let me know and I'll fix it. Forgive Madara for being pissy. He'll get over it soon and Sakura will catch a nice, surprising break. I've started to go back and fix up the early chapters when I get free time. I won't be giving notifications about which chapters get updated, though. Just know that it's happening. The story isn't changing. Minor descriptive details are being added here and there and the occasional sentence is being polished.

Anyways, enjoy the new chapter! If I missed any grammar or spelling errors, please let me know and I'll fix asap. If you want to send me a pm with any mistakes you found instead of leaving them in a review, that works too.

_Sakura speaking to Madara in her mind._

**Madara speaking to Sakura in her mind.**

* * *

><p><strong>-Aftermath-<strong>

Although Madara's fury had simmered down into deadly silence once again, Sakura did not go meet Naruto when he returned to the village. She was still terrified that the Uchiha might take over her body and attack him. So she hung back and watched as all the people of Konoha, civilians and shinobi alike, celebrated Naruto's victory. She was happy for him, she really was, and even the hint of Madara's annoyance and frustration that she picked up on through his mental wall didn't tarnish that. Naruto had worked for so long for the village to truly recognize him, and he deserved his moment.

By the time Katsuyu finished telling everyone about how Naruto had talked Pein into reviving those he had killed during his attack, the sun had set and tents had been set up for all the remaining injured citizens. All able shinobi were transporting emergency supplies from nearby outposts, setting up temporary shelter, and passing out rations. Sakura helped out as much as she could, but she was exhausted from how much chakra she had used healing during the attack earlier, so she soon found herself watching over Tsunade-shishou. That, and she wanted to avoid Naruto.

The strain from using Katsuyu to heal the village had left the Hokage in a coma. She showed no signs of waking up. While it was great that all those killed during the attack had been revived, Konoha itself was in shambles. No Hokage, very few buildings left, low supplies... it was pretty bad. Shizune stepped up and took over the leadership responsibilities. Sakura had been shocked when she'd learned that Shizune along with Kakashi-sensei had both lost their lives during the fight. It only made her more thankful to Naruto for the outcome he'd achieved. She didn't want to lose another member of Team Seven or her fellow apprentice.

The next couple of days consisted of hard work for all of Konoha's citizens. Sakura kept a very close eye on Madara, but all he did was brood in the back of her mind... he was probably plotting something too. He had said nothing to her since the Incident, as she had taken to calling it. She had tried poking him once, only to be ignored and left feeling frustrated and admittedly upset. She decided against pestering him if he didn't want to reply, and focused on avoiding Naruto, healing the rest of the wounded, setting up new tents, and assisting Shizune.

Keeping busy helped with not thinking or worrying too much. Madara's silence bothered her a lot. She missed the playful banter and teasing she had grown accustomed to. She even missed the snarky comments and the half-insults. She especially missed the grins and smirks and the occasional smiles he had given her, and his hair... and his voice... Her heart ached whenever she thought about it, so she threw herself into work to avoid obsessing over it and conceal the distress it was causing her.

Reconstruction was actually going faster than she thought possible. Yamato-sensei was using his Mokuton to create surprisingly elaborate buildings, and carpenters and merchants were arriving to help out and take advantage of the work opportunity. A few of the small surrounding towns had heard of Konoha's disaster and sent food, blankets, medicine, and volunteers to assist wherever they could. The situation was improving in that regard.

Finally, on the third night, Madara spoke to her when she was alone in a tent setting up a few cots. '**Make a clone**.' The sudden echo of the Uchiha's deep voice made her jump, much to her embarrassment, but she quickly recovered.

Sakura froze for a moment, hesitating, but feeling his growing impatience, she obliged his request. A second later, with a mild tug, he was gone, split off into the clone. As usual, he transformed it into his likeness, however... he took on his young form, signalling his intent to go out in public. Madara didn't even look at her before starting to walk away towards the flap in the tent. That actually... really hurt.

Without even thinking about it, Sakura dodged around and stood in front of him, blocking his path. His expression was neutral, but she could see the gleam of irritation in his stare. She had spent far too much time with him to not notice it. "Stand aside," he said in an emotionless tone.

Sakura didn't move. "Where are you going?" she asked. It was hard to keep eye contact with him. Even disguised as a teenager, he currently had the presence of the cold warrior that legend made him out to be. Imagining that look on his older self sent shivers of fear down her spine.

"I said stand aside. Do not make me repeat myself again," Madara commanded, his dark eyes narrowing at her in a glare. He was prepared to fight her over this... Sakura swallowed hard. What should she do? If let him go, he might attack Naruto and do who knows what else. If she stood her ground, she might as well kiss all the progress she had made with him goodbye.

As a Konoha shinobi, she knew that she ought to keep him here. There was no telling if he'd keep his promise to not harm her friends or the village, and she figured he could lose her easily if she tried to tail him. She knew that. She did... however, all she could think about was the way he looked when he smiled... a real smile, not a smirk. The way his eyes crinkled and the bit of teeth he showed and how his entire face reflected his amusement... This Madara in front of her held no resemblance to that man. And it tore at her. She hated it.

So Sakura stepped aside.

As he passed by her, she whispered, "Please... Madara, don't kill anyone." The Uchiha's only response was a slight pause before exiting the tent. Sakura stood there for a long moment fighting back tears. After she accepted he wasn't going to come back anytime soon, she snapped out of it, raised her hands to form the sign to release the kage bunshin jutsu, did nothing, dropped her arms back to her sides, grit her teeth, clenched her fists, and tore out of the tent.

Oh god she was so stupid. So stupid... How could she be such a pushover? Why was she putting Madara before the safety of her friends? What the fuck was wrong with her?

It took her fifteen long agonizing minutes running around at top speed to find Naruto. When she spotted her blonde friend near the edge of the forest that surrounded Konoha's wall, he was sitting alone on a pile of stacked wood finishing up a cup of ramen. She nearly collapsed in relief. He was okay. Thank god...

And then it hit her and she cursed herself for diving so hard into work to avoid thinking about Madara and everything. It was so obvious... how had she not seen it before? She had been so caught up in her paranoia over Naruto's safety that she had never thought it was about something other than the Kyuubi. She could not afford to keep having derp moments like this... Madara had only become furious when the villagers had come back to life.

That was it... it had to be it... the Rinnegan. That was how the Uchiha had planned to come back to life. She knew he wanted to leave her body eventually. She just never knew how until now. Of course... it was a theory she'd have to confirm and there a lot of technicalities to consider, but it made sense. He hadn't cared much when Naruto had beaten the six Pein bodies, he'd reacted in a suspicious manner when her friend had reached the real one, and had completely lost it when Pein had revived everyone. So if he wasn't after Naruto right now, then he was probably going for the Rinnegan... which could mean...

"Sakura! Are you okay? Sakura...?" Naruto's voice startled her out of her racing thoughts. She shook her head and plastered on a fake smile before trotting over to join him on the stack of wood. He looked worried about her.

She wondered if he realized that she had been avoiding him. Guilt bit at her and she sighed. "Naruto, I'm so sorry I wasn't there for you when you came back," she apologized.

Her friend gave her a small, accepting smile. "Hey, don't worry about it. Everyone's been really busy. But you gotta tell me what's wrong," he said, his face falling back into a concerned expression. He put his empty ramen cup to the side and waited for her reply.

Sakura sighed again. She wanted to vent, but she had to be mindful of the seal on her tongue. "I... I can't tell you the details, but I had to make a really hard choice today. Both options had negative outcomes... and I don't know if I did the right thing..."

Naruto frowned and crossed his arms, considering her words for a moment. "Mmm... I don't really get it. Was one choice better than the other? Or worse, I guess?"

"I don't know," she said, recalling the moment in the tent. "I picked the option that had less immediate consequences, but could possibly be worse in the long run. The other choice would have blown up in my face right then and there."

Her blonde friend scratched his hair and replied, "Eh... it would help if you could give me a little bit more to work with, Sakura." He smiled sheepishly.

She shook her head. "I really can't. I'm sorry. It's... personal." Even if she could work out on the fly how to dodge the seal's limits and tell him about Madara without actually using his name, she didn't know if she wanted to get into the nuances of her relationship with the Uchiha.

"Okay... uh..." Naruto paused for a few seconds, then said, "Well, when you made your decision, did you listen to your heart? Eh, I mean gut. Did you listen to your gut? It's like a feeling, you just know."

Sakura blinked. It was a bit difficult to follow what Naruto was saying, but thinking back on it... what had really mattered to her in that moment was Madara's smile, as illogical as that was. "I, um... I guess so?"

Naruto grinned at her and pat her on the shoulder. "Then it'll be okay! Everything will work out," he assured with a cheerful tone.

"I don't know if it's that simple, Naruto..." Sakura muttered with another sigh. Nothing was ever simple or easy with Madara.

"Even if it's not, you can't go back and change your mind. You gotta stick with it, Sakura, and if something goes wrong in the future, you can deal with it then. But you can't give up or let it get you down," the blonde said.

Sakura gave him a tiny smile. He had this particular way of making her feel better. "What if I can't handle it if something bad does happen?" she asked. The threat of the Infinite Tsukuyomi was always in the back of her mind, and she didn't know if her plan regarding Madara would actually work...

"Then I'll be there to help you," Naruto said as if that was that, and there was nothing else to worry about. It was... exactly what she needed to hear.

She felt a real smile spread across her face. "Thanks, Naruto." He nodded, clearly pleased that she was feeling better. A thought struck her as she looked at her friend. Tilting her head slightly, she said, "You seem different now. What did you talk about with Pein?" She knew the very basic gist of it but no details.

Naruto's grin slid off his face and was replaced with a contemplative look. "His real name was Nagato," he began, "He... he made me realize that I didn't understand anything before. I was being selfish... The Pervy Sage told me that he believed I could find real peace and end all the wars and fighting between shinobi, that someday I could do something about the hatred in the world, and everyone would understand each other, but I was only really thinking about Konoha..."

Her friend trailed off, his face downcast. Sakura was fairly concerned. He usually didn't really talk about this stuff. "Naruto?"

He snapped back to attention. "Sorry..." he said, then took a deep breath and continued his explanation. "Our village and other ones used Nagato's small country as a battlefield. Sakura, we fought wars there and destroyed their land and killed their people and left them to suffer alone afterwards while we went back to our own villages and lived happily. He said that our peace is violence towards them, and that just by living, we hurt others."

Sakura place a comforting hand on Naruto's shoulder. What he was saying sounded a lot like what Madara had said in the past. She tried to swallow down the lump in her throat. "How did you respond to that?" she asked.

"I told him he was right. When I thought about it from his side, I could understand why he attacked Konoha. He was working for his justice, like how I was working for mine, and that becomes a chain of revenge and hatred. He said that people could never understand each other..." Naruto trailed off again, his normally bright blue eyes clouded with the seriousness of his thoughts.

Sakura needed him to continue. She needed to hear the end of it. She had thought about all of this too after Madara had talked about it, only to fail to come up with a suitable answer. "But you got him to revive everyone, right?" she prompted.

Naruto nodded, "Yeah, well... Nagato said the Akatsuki were going to use the tailed beasts as a weapon to teach the world real pain, and that would create short periods of peace until people started fighting again and used the weapon themselves... I couldn't accept that. It wasn't real peace, but Nagato thought it was the only way. And I didn't have an answer the first time he asked me..."

A tailed beast weapon? Not the Infinite Tsukuyomi? What...? Sakura shook her head, making a mental note to come back to that oddity. "So you found an answer when you went and talked to the real him?"

"When I finally met him face to face, I listened to his story. He told me about all the pain he had suffered. I understood him then, why he felt the way he did. I even agreed with what he was saying. But I still couldn't forgive him. I still hated him... I really wanted to kill him, Sakura," he said, his tone darkening to a near growl, the killing intent prickling her nerves.

Alarm bells went off in her head. "Naruto..." she murmured, shaking his shoulder slightly to snap him out of it. It was obviously still really upsetting for him to think about.

Her friend took another deep breath and calmed himself. "If I had killed him..." he said, "All it would have done is continue the cycle of hatred. Nothing would be different. I decided to believe in what the Pervy Sage believed in. When I told him that, he didn't take me seriously. But I told him I won't give up, that if there's such a thing as peace in the world, I'll find it. You see, the Pervy Sage's first book was inspired by Nagato. He used to believe in finding true peace, too. And I am named after the main character. So if I change, if I don't keep trying, it will be a different story. I won't stomp on my master's memento like that. He wrote it to change the world, ya know." His lips quirked up in a melancholy half-smile. The pain from Jiraiya's death flashed briefly in his eyes.

Sakura leaned close to give Naruto a hug with one arm. "I guess it did in the end," she said. She was starting to understand what he was saying...

"Yeah," Naruto agreed with a nod, his tone growing confident. "Even though we had the same master, we chose different paths. Nagato gave up on the Pervy Sage's beliefs, but the future he was trying to make would never bring true peace. After we talked, Nagato finally understood that, and decided to believe in me... in the Pervy Sage's teachings again. He helped me understand a lot of things and what I face... war, hatred, revenge, death... and now I carry on Nagato's will. I won't let him or my master down."

"So you never came up with a definite answer...?" Sakura prodded. She did get it, making a choice and sticking to it. Still... that might not be enough...

Naruto shook his head. "Not really. I think that having faith is the most important part. I don't know what exactly will bring real peace... but I will never ever give up trying! That's a promise! And not just for Konoha, but for Amegakure and all the other villages too! I'll find peace for the whole world! Dattebayo!" He grinned and gave her a thumbs up.

A choked laugh escaped her throat as she processed his words. He made it sound so easy, but having the will to do something like that, not to mention accomplishing that sort of goal, was another story altogether. He did have a point though... She shrugged her shoulders and said, "Maybe you're right about having faith... I want to believe... Eh?" Sakura broke off her train of thought when she noticed that Naruto had turned his head around to look behind them.

Madara was leaning against a tree twenty feet away watching them with a curious look on his young face, one eyebrow slightly quirked. Silence and uncomfortable staring ensued.

Naruto leaned close to her. "Sakura, are you really...?" he started to whisper, then stopped and bit his lip, a detail she caught out of the corner of her eye.

"What, Naruto?" she whispered back without looking away from Madara. What was he thinking? How long had he been there? What had he been doing while he was gone? Did he know she was upset with him? Were she and Naruto that goddamn incompetent to not notice his presence?!

Naruto jerked away from her and laughed awkwardly, rubbing the back of his head. "Nevermind. I'll talk to you later, okay?" He leaped off the stack of wood after grabbing his empty ramen cup and waved goodbye. He wasted no time in dashing out of there, leaving her alone with a now approaching Madara.

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><p><strong>Next Chapter:<strong> Sakura and Madara drink tea and talk about philosophy. Well, not the tea part, but they do have an in-depth discussion. The author apologizes for the cliffhanger.

**Fun Challenge:** If you can correctly guess what Naruto was going to ask (he'll actually finish his question in a future chapter), I'll tell you the name of someone very interesting that Sakura will talk to much later on in the story. And as a bonus, I'll tell you who initiates the first kiss.


	37. A Glimmer of Hope

**A/N:** Thanks for the reviews: Sophiebybophie, LegaHy, Pikas, PrettyChelsea, TvonUchiha, LoonyTuned, mshccs, ewaa, GaaraTheFifthKazekage, anon guest, beliee, A Better Me For All Eternity, The Mistress Snape, LilithiaRW, Yami Meiden, Cherry home chan, KunoichiRule20, The Imperfect Me, Lexus Lee, AnonymousIsSleepy, magykalheart, Seikyuna Shojikina, Lennyjess, Sorophyne, Avi, girlpod50000, Amy, Of Healing Love, Funnie, Sadistic Pacifist, scipio96, anon guest two, la canelle, and Waak!

Pikas, Naruto has no idea about who kid Madara really is. Since his soul is sealed inside Sakura's body, there was no Uchiha chakra for Naruto to detect in sage mode during the Pein fight, and Madara is careful about keeping his Sakura clone body's chakra at civilian levels when he's out and about, usually. We'll see more of what Naruto thinks about Sakura's secret boyfriend later on (one thing is that he doubts she's actually serious about him despite his previous teasing).

The Imperfect Me, thanks! And sorry I wasn't more clear on that part. What happened during the Pein attack was that he killed Shizune and Kakashi, and both of them got brought back to life by Nagato. Sakura found out after the fact, so that's why it was mentioned then. I probably could have said clearly that Nagato revived them, but I thought that the Naruto's outcome phrase covered that. Hopefully I answered all your questions.

Magykalheart, thanks for your feedback on Naruto's speech. I do understand where you're coming from. I'm not that big of a Naruto fan tbh. I tried hard to keep him IC even though the talk had to be serious. If you have any tips on how I could do better I'd love to hear them. Naruto's going to be in more than a handful of future chapters, so anything helps. Thanks! Glad you liked the drama. You'll get a bit more this chapter.

Sorophyne, I like more mature Naruto too. The Pein fight really changed him and made him think a lot about the world. Avi and Amy, Naruto's met mini Madara before in chapter 21. Funnie and Amy, thanks for the compliments on my writing! I try! Funnie, yeah I noticed the extra reviews too. I'll do some more challenges or stuff like that since they are fun to see what people think. I do prefer for people to review just cause they like the story though! Scipio96, something important has to happen before they kiss, so nope, not this chapter or the next. Anon guest two, you are clever~

And now for the challenge results. LegaHy, PrettyChelsea, Lexus Lee, magykalheart, and Funnie, and sorta Sorophyne too, got it right. "Sakura, are you really... over Sasuke?" Congrats everyone! (Spoilers removed after a week of being posted, apologies if you missed them!)

Sorry for the long author's note. Let me know if I missed any spelling or grammar errors. Hope you enjoy the MadaSaku moment this chapter! Also, apologies in advance for the emotional roller-coaster.

_Sakura speaking to Madara in her mind._

**Madara speaking to Sakura in her mind.**

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><p><strong>-A Glimmer of Hope-<strong>

Sakura's eyes narrowed slowly as Madara stopped a few feet away from her. A thousand questions burned in her mind and a muddled mix of emotions battled inside her. She wasn't sure exactly how she was feeling, but she was annoyed. Yes, definitely annoyed. First things first, though.

"How much of that did you hear?" she asked, crossing her arms and fixing him with a glare. She was worried he had overheard her talking to Naruto about him. Even if what she had said probably wouldn't tip him off about her feelings for him, it was still personal. She'd already locked the conversation away behind her mental barrier.

Madara didn't answer right away, something that only made her more irritated with him. If he was going to continue ignoring her like he had been for the past few days, she would beat the crap out of him until he stopped. Her glare turned into a scowl as the seconds ticked by. He noticed her obvious displeasure and sighed, an exasperated look appearing on his face. "I caught the end of some sort of pep talk and everything after that."

Good. So he didn't hear what she was worried about. And he wasn't being a dick and ignoring her anymore, for now. "Eavesdropping is rude, you know." Sakura grumbled with a huff. He shrugged at her, clearly unconcerned about his manners. Uncomfortable silence followed for a moment as she figured out what she should ask next. Finally, she settled on the second most important topic. "So. Where is it?"

"Where is what?" Madara asked, tilting his head at her. She couldn't tell if he was playing dumb or not, but she was not in the mood for any mind games right now.

"The Rinnegan! I know that's what you were after tonight. That's how you were going to come back to life. Don't even try to lie or trick me," Sakura threatened. Granted, it had taken her days to figure out. She didn't bother to bring that bit up.

Madara gave her a calculating look and she grit her teeth and stared hard at him, just daring him to try to mislead her or deny it. After a minute, her bravado paid off. He glanced around quickly and then back at her. "Walk with me," he said, motioning for her to follow. He turned around and entered the forest. Without hesitation, she jumped down from the stack of wood and caught up to him, understanding he didn't want any chance of someone overhearing them. That was fine with her.

Sakura lost track of time as she followed the Uchiha through the gaps in the trees. The land was beginning to slope upwards and the night air was growing colder. He wasn't moving too fast, minimizing the noise of their progress. She matched his pace, glaring at his back as she stewed in her annoyance. There were far too many questions ready to burst from her mouth. She wanted to ask why Naruto had said Nagato was going to use the tailed beasts as a weapon instead of mentioning the Infinite Tsukuyomi, what he thought about Naruto's approach to peace, if he knew she was upset about his treatment of her...

Madara's voice broke her train of thought. "Stop that. It's annoying and rude. I thought we had discussed manners before." She immediately understood he was complaining about her staring at his back. However, it was that comment that made Sakura snap and lose her temper.

"Manners?! You want to lecture me about manners?! You ignore me for days sulking in the back of my head. You don't tell me where you're going or even acknowledge what I asked of you back in the tent. You haven't answered me about the Rinnegan, you spy on a private conversation, and now you're bitching about my manners?!" Sakura raged, letting out all her frustration and anger that had built up since Pein's attack. Her fists clenched and she trembled with the urge to hit something.

As she finished her rant, they came to a break in the trees. It was a small clearing overlooking Konoha in the distance, high enough to see the ruined village within the walls. Madara turned around and glared at her. "Really?" he grumbled, as if this was all her fault. She saw red. Overcome with fury, Sakura snarled and swung a fist at the closest tree, gathering chakra subconsciously. A hand caught her wrist before she made contact. "Calm down," he commanded as her arm strained against his firm grip. He tightened his hold in a warning.

She should turn and hit his face instead. She really should. She could throw off his grip easily. But she was just sound of mind enough not to, realizing it would be unproductive. So instead, she took deep breaths and tried to get her anger under control. It took a good few minutes before she was able to look at Madara again without wanting to punch him. She knew she wouldn't get an apology. He never said sorry, ever.

When he saw she had calmed down from a blind fury, he let go of her, regarding her with a cautious gaze. She plopped down at the base of the tree she had been about to demolish a moment ago and crossed her arms in a display of strong irritation. "You'd better start talking then," she hissed.

"Are you going to be childish all night?" Madara complained, a mild scowl on his face. Sakura said nothing and merely glared harder at him. He sighed and rolled his eyes. "Fine. If it stops your whining... yes, the Rinnegan is safe."

Fucking finally. The answer gave her something to latch onto and think about other than her anger. Her thoughts raced as she combed through every fact she had learned about the Rinnegan. "I knew it. So... that means... you'll need someone else to..." Sakura's eyes widened in shock and she involuntarily cringed backwards against the tree.

Madara noticed her reaction and laughed. "Oh please. You wouldn't be able to handle those eyes." She let out a small sigh of relief. It had been horrifying to think that he might stick the Rinnegan in her. She tried to focus on that revulsion rather than the butterflies that had erupted in her stomach when he had laughed.

"I don't want them anyways," Sakura replied truthfully. She knew using the revival jutsu had killed Nagato and she quite liked being alive. She studied him for a few seconds. "You don't have them with you, do you?" she asked. Madara's smirk confirmed her suspicion. "Then where are they?"

The Uchiha shrugged and said, "Safe." Sakura's eye twitched at his one word reply. His guarded expression made it obvious she wasn't going to get more out of him. Luckily, she was smart. The Rinnegan was most likely in the possession of one of his Akatsuki associates, either Masked Guy or Plant Guy. So Madara still had a way to revive... and that thought bothered her more than she wanted to admit. Even though having him sealed inside her was often difficult and he had put her through a lot of crap, she'd grown used to his presence. She didn't want to think about all the consequences of him leaving her. And she definitively didn't want to think about what that would mean for her crush. Her stupid crush on a stubborn and annoying man.

Sakura shook her head and refocused. Time to pick a new topic, plus... she was supposed to be mad at him still. Talking with him these days tended to have a strangely calming effect on her even if she didn't like or disagreed with half the things that came out of his mouth. "What do you think about what Naruto said?" she asked.

"Foolish delusions," Madara answered. Of course he'd say that. She sighed and rubbed the bridge of her nose, finding it easier to feel irritated with him again.

"But he made a good point about choice and having faith," she countered. "Don't you think that he made a good step forward in the path to real peace by not killing Nagato? You talked before about the cycle of hatred. Naruto broke it, and I believe that he'll continue on that path."

Madara shook his head in disagreement, his black locks of hair swaying with the motion and she shouldn't really be noticing that right now. "He's only one person, Sakura. It won't make more than a fraction of difference in the world."

Sakura raised an arm and pointed at Konoha. "It made a lot of difference to the people who were killed there," she stated. She was tempted to comment about how he was only one person too, but she already knew what he would say to that. He'd become the Juubi's Jinchuuriki and create a new reality and nothing else would matter. She'd heard it all before.

"Yes, the winners of this outcome. They benefited from Nagato's death and the prolonged suffering of Amegakure. Once again, Konoha comes out on top. Instead of having to deal with the consequences of past wars and actions, everyone gets to live happily ever after," Madara drawled in a mocking tone. There was an underlying hint of bitterness there as well.

Sakura narrowed her eyes at him. "Why do you have to make this into winners and losers?" she grumbled. "Something amazing happened here that was only achieved by the choice to not pursue revenge. Naruto is already inspiring other people and his ideals will spread for sure. This could be the start of real change in the world!"

"Nothing will change. It won't be long before conflict starts up again. If not here, then elsewhere. It's human nature," the Uchiha pointed out. Sakura bit her lip as she tried to come up with reply to that. It was hard to argue when he was right about almost everything he said. He was just so... negative. It was frustrating and annoying. Before she got a chance to organize her thoughts into an answer, Madara motioned to the distant stone faces of all the past Hokages and said, "Look there and tell me what you see in common."

Sakura blinked, but obliged his request. What was he trying to get at here? He better not be trying to make her forget she was angry at him. She better not forget that either, even if her irritation was fading against her wishes and self reminders. Somewhat baffled, she studied the Hokage Monument. "Uh, they're all either dead or indisposed?"

"No," Madara said. "All but one Hokage since the first have been handpicked by their predecessor, and all of them have followed the same ideology. The village was founded primarily by the Senjus and my clan. You know exactly how that turned out, Sakura. My clan is in ruins and the Senjus have dominated the village since its creation. Konoha fits the definition of winners and losers, don't you think?"

Sakura opened her mouth a few times, but no words came out. Her mind was blank. How could she argue with that? She knew the truth of the Uchiha massacre, she knew what Konoha had done to Amegakure, she knew how Naruto had been treated for most of his life... Naruto... Seizing the memory of her close friend, she closed her eyes for a moment and focused. When she was ready, she met Madara's gaze again and said, "You're right. I can't deny the fact that there have been a lot of sacrifices made to get to where we are now. Still... as long as we don't give up on making a better future, all the pain we've endured in the past and everyone we've lost will have meaning. Naruto is living proof of that. He struggled and fought and suffered but he never gave up, and now he's Konoha's hero."

Madara scoffed and his mouth twisted down into an annoyed frown. "Stop using that boy as a shield. What do you know of pain? You've lost nothing!" he nearly snarled. Sakura flinched at his tone. Something she said must have set him off, and she had been falling back on Naruto a lot lately...

It was true. She hadn't lost anything... besides Sasuke, but he didn't really count anymore. Her parents were alive and well in a harbor village, and everyone in Konoha was fine. Well, almost everyone... her Shishou was in a coma. Anyways, this conversation was beginning to sound very similar to previous ones they'd had, and those never went anywhere... maybe she could take a new approach. It was a gamble, however... she had to give it a shot. "I know... but I felt your pain when I saw your brother dying in one of my dreams." Madara immediately stiffened and plastered a blank expression on his face.

Good job, Sakura. Open mouth, insert foot. Way to go!

So... that's what had set him off. When she'd mentioned everyone they'd lost. He had remembered his brother. She wanted to slap herself for saying something stupid and inconsiderate, but it was too late now. She decided to keep going in the off-chance that it paid off. "I know it's not the same, not even close... but... it was like I was there... Even if I don't have anything to compare it to, I..." Sakura trailed off. He wasn't even looking at her. He was staring blankly into the forest.

She bit her lip, feeling beyond guilty and stupid, all her previous anger completely gone. She didn't know what to say now, and telling him she was sorry would not help. She knew him well enough to not make that mistake. The minutes seemed to stretch on forever, and she felt worse every second. Finally, she couldn't take it anymore. "Do you miss him?" she asked softly.

"Every day," Madara murmured. He glanced at her and her breath caught in her throat. The look of deep sadness in his eyes tore at her heart. His face remained blank, but she could see how much he still hurt over Izuna's death. She had felt that same pain in her dream. Someone who didn't have experience in reading Madara's reactions wouldn't be able to tell what he was feeling. She, however, had learned to look under his mask to a degree. It was the small details that gave his emotions away, especially in his eyes. The Uchiha sucked in a breath and visibly hesitated, then said, "Come with me."

She stood up and followed him deeper into the trees, away from Konoha. It was the longest twenty minutes of her life. She made sure to not stare at his back this time. Her heart burned with the guilt of bringing up his brother. It had been a stupid gamble. Stupid stupid stupid stupid! Heavy silence persisted throughout their entire trek, and she didn't feel confident enough to break it. She chewed her lip nervously, wondering where he was leading her.

Madara's chosen destination turned out to be a fairly large clearing deep in the forest. A wide river cut through the field of grass. The cool breeze picked up again a bit as she entered the area. Sakura shivered and rubbed her arms, trying to warm up. The Uchiha made his way closer to the stream and sat down in a clean patch of grass. He looked back at her and patted the ground next to him, a clear invitation.

She slowly walked over and joined him, carefully giving him enough personal space before sitting down. She noticed Madara's gaze settle on the river, and followed suit. Sakura's mind raced trying to figure out what his motives were and if he was still upset. It was really hard to tell. She glanced at him now and then out of the corner of her eye as discreetly as possible. Of course, it didn't take long for him to notice. His lips quirked up in slight amusement, and he said, "It's peaceful."

Oh.

She was so worried she hadn't even noticed. The sound of the water, the moon in the night sky, the gentle breeze, the soft grass, the distant hoots of owls, the chirping of many crickets... Madara's steady breathing... "Yeah... it is. Did you come here in the past?" The tension fled her body and she relaxed.

"Mm," he confirmed. She could see why he liked this place. He stretched his legs out and his eyes slid shut, a tranquil expression on his face. This... this was the Madara she loved to see. Absolutely beautiful...

Sakura looked away as she felt the heat start to rise in her cheeks. She had to distract herself right now before he noticed her reaction. What could she say...? Choosing the first thought that occurred to her, she asked, "Is this the same river as the one you met..." She trailed off. Right, better not say his name. She'd already messed up badly once tonight. No need for another mistake.

"No. I've never taken anyone here before," Madara replied without opening his eyes. It was good that he didn't, because Sakura was left gaping, mouth open like an idiot, after hearing his words.

She was the first...? That meant... if this wasn't the same river... he must have come here to be alone after Izuna...

A grin burst onto her face. It was truly, truly flattering to be invited to a place only he had been, especially one he had used to cope with the loss of his brother. She felt special in this moment, she really did. "I'm honored," she told him, her heart dancing in her chest. It was such a simple gesture but it meant so much. It was a silent sign of both forgiveness and an apology. Madara could probably never say those words. This had to be his way of showing her there were no hard feelings.

Madara snorted. "Just be quiet." He flopped backwards to stare up at the moon, his arms behind his head, pointedly ignoring her. He had the same scowl he always wore when he felt uncomfortable. Sakura barely held in a laugh. How typical of the Uchiha. He was always bad at accepting gratitude. She mimicked his relaxed position and sighed happily, smile still in place.

Sakura wasn't sure how much time passed. It was easy to lose track. Her raging thoughts had settled down as she embraced the peaceful atmosphere. Madara's presence once again had a very calming effect on her, and she also wanted to fully enjoy this moment with him. One question had started nagging her, though, and would not go away no matter how hard she tried to suppress it. Hesitantly, she asked, "Would you be able to see him again in the Infinite Tsukuyomi?" She bit her lip, hoping she hadn't ticked him off again. She had avoided mentioning his death in a bad way, so it should be okay?

Madara hummed, considering her question, then replied, "I don't know if the caster can be affected by the genjutsu. That wasn't written on the stone. There is an alternative, but it wouldn't be the real thing and I'd be aware of that fact."

She blinked a few times in shock. Turning her head to look at him, she asked in total bewilderment, "Madara... you'd give everyone on earth a perfect dream world even if you don't get one?"

"Yes," the Uchiha affirmed. "This isn't about me, Sakura. It never was. It's about saving the world from its fate." He was still gazing up at the moon. She had told him her opinion on his method of obtaining true peace before, so no need to go down that road again. There was something else she did want to ask him though, a hypothetical question she had never really thought about until now...

"If you could choose between having Izuna back and casting the Infinite Tsukuyomi, what would you pick?" she asked, carefully watching for his reaction.

He stiffened and shot her a glare. He hesitated, opened his mouth once, shut it, then growled, "What a ridiculous question. I'm not even going to humor you by answering that." With that, he rolled and turned his back to her, missing the way she grinned in triumph. That non-answer spoke volumes.

Madara Uchiha still had an attachment to this reality. He would pick Izuna over everyone else's happiness. All she needed to do now was find him a new connection with this world, as awful as that sounded. The main thing was that there was hope for her plan. And that was worth every sacrifice and gamble she had made tonight and every day since she had met him.

Unfortunately her victory had left him in an obvious bad mood. How to pull him out of it...? Sakura considered her options for a couple minutes, then stood up and made her way to the river bank. She could feel the Uchiha's attention on her even though he wasn't actually looking. She bent down and picked up a smooth, palm-sized stone, tossing it up once and catching it. Madara lifted his head and glanced over at the sound. She shot him a challenging grin. "I bet I can get more rocks to the other side than you," she called out.

He stared at her for a short moment, slight disbelief on his face. After sitting up and casually running a hand through his hair, removing a few bits of grass, he met her gaze and smirked. "That is extremely unlikely."

"Prove it. I don't think you're as good as you think you are," Sakura taunted, making a show of spinning around and deftly skipping the rock across the river. It reached the other side.

"I'll make you regret saying that," Madara's voice came from her left. She turned to see him ready to skip his own rock across the stream. They promptly set up a point system. One point for each time a stone hit the water. Five for each one that made it all the way across. Ten points deducted for any rock that sunk.

And the game began. It didn't take long before they started to try and one up each other. Throwing stones with their eyes closed, while facing the opposite direction, while sitting down, hopping on one foot, balancing upside down on one hand... the stunts did become pretty ridiculous. But it was great fun and Madara seemed to be relishing the competition as much as she was.

Sakura only lost by two points. Not too bad considering the Uchiha had been a pro at this in his younger days.

"I told you I'd win," Madara gloated, shooting her a triumphant smirk when the game ended. Sakura opened her mouth to make a snarky comment and froze. In that moment, the Uchiha's hair had caught the glow of the moon, the breeze ruffling his bangs over his dark eyes, which shone with a gleam of enjoyment she had only seen a few times before. He looked positively radiant. If he had been his older form right now, she might have fainted. Was... was this becoming more than just a crush? It was scary to think about that possibility. She stared in awe until she noticed one of his eyebrows quirking up in curiosity.

Swallowing hard, she caught herself and offered him a congratulatory smile. "Yeah... you got me," she said, admitting defeat, possibly in more ways than one. She would have to do some soul-searching when she got some alone time.

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><p><strong>Next Chapter:<strong> What has Madara been up to? Let's find out! Recap time with a surprise twist!

**Reader Input Opportunity:** What sort of MadaSaku moments would you like to see happen? If I like an idea, can fit it into the story, and can keep both of them IC, you might see your suggestion appear in a chapter! Of course, I'll give credit where it's due.


	38. Interlude II : A Moment of Reflection

**A/N:** Thanks for the reviews: Shiraha, Sorophyne, easilyaddictedgirl, The Imperfect Me, Lexus Lee, TeenageCrisis, ewaa, PrettyChelsea, Netag Silverstar, KpL, Lilida97, MoonBunny320, The Mistress Snape, magykalheart, Amy, Funnie, britneybish, anon guest, Badger94, Gal Can't Help It, scipio96, mshccs, Kasuka-chan, Yami Meiden, IchirakuRamenInc, anon guest number two, Of Healing Love, LoonyTuned, Avalami, Duner89, November Ember, Caroline98, Pikas, Yowa-Go, zero10296, and Namlanzak! Some of you reviewed more than once, so special kudos to those that did.

Thanks for the ideas you all gave me. It was very inspiring! I'll definitely be using some in future chapters. Keep an eye out to see if you get credited for one (Pikas, one of your ideas is sorta included in this chapter). I'm really glad everyone loved the MadaSaku moment and left me so many kind words in reviews! I appreciate the time you take to write them and I do read every single one multiple times. I will continue to deliver more cute moments as they slowly build up. So look forward to that.

In response to some input, I've removed the challenge spoilers. Let's keep this info special, shall we? If you know what they were, consider it a thanks for reading and reviewing consistently. I'm also trying to cut down on long notes before the chapter. Feel free to pm me if you want to talk about something more indepth. Just remember even if I don't address you directly, I'm reading all the feedback you give. And I will still answer direct questions unless the replies contain spoilers I'm not willing to give out. Speaking of which, if I missed any questions, poke me again with them please. It's late right and I'm trying to get this update out asap.

I hope you enjoy the Madara chapter. Hopefully I covered everything since the last one. It's a bit different this time. As usual, forgive any grammar and spelling errors. Also, sorry that this chapter is shorter than the previous few. I think the way I wrote it should make up for the length, though!

_Sakura speaking to Madara in her mind._

**Madara speaking to Sakura in her mind.**

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><p><strong>-Interlude II : A Moment of Reflection-<strong>

Sakura had grown on him more than he had ever anticipated. Madara accepted this fact as he stared down at the sleeping girl next to him. He shifted his legs to prevent numbness from sitting in one position for too long. After he had beaten her at their little stone skipping game, they had resumed relaxing in comfortable silence on the soft grass near the river. She had fallen asleep pretty quickly. Although he found it slightly rude, he didn't wake her. He preferred that she take care of their shared body.

A wry smirk appeared on his face as a memory of his brother popped into his mind. When he'd been much younger and had started growing his hair out, Izuna had teased him about it, saying he would make a pretty girl. Madara chuckled quietly to himself. It was ironic that he had ended up sealed inside one. His eyes drifted along her sleeping form following the soft curves of her body, starting from her hips, up to her face, slightly parted lips, dark lashes that hid brilliant green eyes, and finally landed on her hair. It truly was a ridiculous color. In his entire life, he had never seen someone with that shade of pink hair before. Admittedly... it did suit her. He had never given her appearance much thought or consideration previously, even when he had showered for her, but now... in this moment, under the light of the moon, he found he could appreciate it.

Madara blinked as a cricket landed on her head. Sakura murmured in her sleep, but didn't wake. He resisted the urge to roll his eyes. The young shinobi of these times were spoiled if they didn't wake up at the slightest disturbance. He reached over and flicked the offending insect off, his fingers brushing a few of her pink strands in the process. They were very soft, and he hesitated for a few seconds. Then he gently traced the lock of hair, following it down to her cheek, memorizing the silky feel.

It was fine. It was his body too, for now. He had every right to do this.

His fingertips ghosted across her skin briefly until a quiet sigh escaped her lips. He froze, watching for any sign that Sakura was waking up. When he felt confident that she was still asleep, he slowly retracted his hand, his eyes never leaving her. What... what was he doing? Madara grit his teeth and pointedly looked away from her, his gaze fixing on the flowing river. He felt strange, it was similar to how...

He shook his head and pushed those thoughts away. That didn't matter anymore and he refused to spend any more time mulling that topic over, especially when it was frustrating and always left him aggravated. What mattered was the here and now and completing the Eye of the Moon plan. Another soft sigh drew his attention back to the sleeping pink-haired girl. Sakura's lips had twisted into a small frown and her eyebrows had furrowed. A bad dream, perhaps?

It was possible. Quite a bit had happened recently. He was pleased she was handling everything quite well, considering she was young. No mental or emotional breakdowns or other irritating crap for him to deal with... well, mostly. There had been a handful of less than desirable moments. She had argued with him over the Infinite Tsukuyomi, but he had expected that when he had filled her in on his plan. It was somewhat annoying that she had admitted he was right about the dark truths of this world, yet continued to hold onto the hope and belief that things could improve and true peace could be found in this reality.

Nagato's assault on Konoha would have been a perfect opportunity to teach her first hand that this world was destined to suffer endless wars and bloodshed. He had not expected the Kyuubi's Jinchuuriki to not only defeat Nagato, but somehow convince the traitorous brat to use his Rinnegan, his beloved brother's eyes, in such an insulting manner. The Rinne Tensei had been intended for his revival, and for Nagato to waste his life without accomplishing his true purpose had left Madara enraged for a good while. The fact that it had been used to revive the citizens of Konoha only added salt to the wound.

It was a good thing he always had a backup plan. When he had gotten the chance to go out alone to contact Zetsu, he had been pleased to hear that Obito was less of a failure than Nagato and was already on the move to collect his eyes from the traitor's body. Obito had Hashirama's cells and was also capable of using the Rinnegan to perform the Rinne Tensei. When the time was right, he would force the other Uchiha to revive him. Until then, he'd allow Obito to act on his own and capture the remaining two bijuu... assuming the brat didn't mess up even more and force Madara to step in and fix his mess. The Eye of the Moon plan would be completed sooner or later. He didn't mind waiting a little bit for all the pieces to align. It was not beyond him to admit he had come to enjoy some aspects of being sealed inside Sakura.

Madara frowned and ran a hand through his hair, roughly pulling a knot out. Nagato's failure hadn't only ruined his primary plans for revival, but it was also a shame that the attack and outcome hadn't shaken her faith that peace could be obtained in this reality. They both had learned the truth of the Uchiha massacre and she now knew how ruthless Konoha could be to protect its own interests. It would have been useful to spark and cultivate darkness in her heart with those two brutal events. People who rejected this world were easier to manipulate.

Still... in an odd way, he was glad she hadn't wavered and abandoned her obnoxious optimism or changed her personality. After getting over the initial hostility from being stuck together, as time progressed she had become more tolerable to be around, and now he had moments of genuine enjoyment... and dare he say... fun, with her. It was like a breath of fresh air after so many years slowly dying in that dark cave. The insults thrown at each other had lost their sharp bite, even from his side, and had turned into familiar verbal sparring. It reminded him of times with his brother and Hashirama. He took pleasure in matching wits against someone else.

Sakura's reactions were always a source of amusement for Madara. At the start, he'd quickly learned how to push her buttons to send her flying into a rage, but she had grown more in control of her temper over the months, and he had adjusted his methods to continue producing results. He'd noticed that often times she would end up blushing in embarrassment. It wasn't as funny compared to when she became enraged, however it was a good angle to work. Tricking her with Rinnegan cookies had been a stroke of genius. The look on her face that day had been hilarious. Withholding information she wanted to know had the dual benefit of being entertaining and challenging her. He found it interesting to watch her struggle and figure out the answer for herself. She was pretty clever... most of the time.

There had been that annoying matter with that boy, Sasuke. To this day, he still couldn't believe he had ended up giving relationship advice to a teenage girl. At least she had let go of her foolish love for him, but not her desire to help the Kyuubi's Jinchuuriki bring their teammate back. He personally didn't understand it. He did grudgingly respect her for sticking to her word, though. Her ninja way. Madara's lips curved up in a smile and he rolled his eyes at the memory of Sakura barking those words at him for the first time with a fierce glare in her eyes. How naive... and yet... commendable.

On the other hand, he appreciated the respect she had obviously developed for him. The prime example of that was the time she had willingly come clean about having dreams of his past instead of forcing him to get the truth out of her the hard way. She almost no longer argued pointlessly with him anymore, except for her disagreement over the Infinite Tsukuyomi. He figured he would never convince her to go along with it. That was fine. She seemed to understand she could not change his mind about it either.

Their conversation on the topic tonight had surprised him with the unusual turn it had taken. It had bothered him when Sakura had brought up Izuna. He didn't like the fact that she'd had dreams of his brother's death and he definitely did not appreciate Izuna being used in an argument against him. The only reason he dropped it and took her to his sanctuary was the pain he saw her eyes, the same anguish he always felt when he remembered the loss of his brother. It had been real. She hadn't been faking it or feeling sorry for herself. She really had felt his pain over Izuna. That in itself was unsettling, and it still was if he thought about it.

So he had asked Sakura to follow him to his river. This place had a calming effect on him every time he came. It set his heart at peace and the water washed away any turmoil in his mind. The decision to bring her here had been made without truly thinking it over. He had gone along with a gut feeling, and it had paid off. It had settled whatever weird anger she'd had against him without having to actually talk about it. He knew he had done something to piss her off as well, but he refused to apologize verbally. Allowing her to come with him to the river was enough. Madara appreciated not having to deal with a grudge from her, so much that he'd even humored her inane questions again until she had asked him if he would choose Izuna over casting the Infinite Tsukuyomi.

Madara could not answer that without lying, something he refused to tarnish the memory of his brother with, and if he spoke the truth to her, he would never hear the end of it. Luckily, instead of pursuing the matter, Sakura had challenged him to a stone skipping contest. It had been a refreshing distraction and another example of how much she'd grown.

He glanced up at the sky. It would be morning soon. He had let her sleep long enough. He lifted his hand to poke her in the forehead, but froze. No, that was too straightforward. His gaze landed on the river and a smirk curved his lips upward. He didn't even need to use a jutsu for this. He got up and made his way to the center of the stream. A thin layer of chakra under his sandals kept him on the surface.

A simple kick and a burst of chakra in his foot was all that it took to send a fairly large wave soaring through the air. It was almost poetic the way the water crashed down on Sakura. The sight of her jerking awake, flailing and sputtering, soaked to the bone, was truly beautiful. The chuckle that rose up from his chest quickly turned into laughter. The indignant glare she sent him after she recovered from the shock only made the moment better. His shoulders shook with mirth and he bent over slightly, one hand on his knee to steady himself as hilarity overtook him.

He was, however, aware enough to dodge Sakura when she tried to tackle him a second later. The flustered expression on her face when she missed was worth getting a bit wet when she skillfully stopped and spun around, kicking up a small splash of water at him. He didn't mind at all. With a taunting smirk, he closed the distance between them, pat her head, then canceled the clone and with a small tug, found himself back inside her mind.

'_Dick_,' she grumbled as she did her best to remove as much excess water from her clothes and hair as she could. He tuned out the shared perception of being soaked, happy to leave her to deal with it alone.

'**Language**,' Madara scolded with a mental grin. Sakura rolled her eyes and huffed, but he could feel the small smile tugging at her lips. Again, he appreciated the amount she had matured. He would enjoy the remaining time with her until Obito collected the final two tailed beasts.

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><p><strong>Next Chapter:<strong> Sakura gets some insight into Madara's past.

**End Note:** If you have any more questions about what Madara's been doing since the last interlude, let me know and I'll answer them! Madara's not very perceptive about some things, is he? Sakura's so worried for nothing about her feelings being discovered. For now.


	39. Past Bonds

**A/N:** Thanks for the reviews: Sorophyne, easilyaddictedgirl, Duner89, magykalheart, Lexus Lee, Kracked Peachlollipop, mshccs, Amy, ewaa, LilithiaRW, girlpod50000, anon guest, Jess, Applecat, WhistlesOfTin, Of Healing Love (thanks for the awesome advice), The Imperfect Me, Funnie, Angry Paradox, britneybish, Nandeenah, anon guest 2, Arfbarkwoof, SweetestChick, Katie, Pikas, Susimufin, Redloving Jade, Joley, lara'tjie, and fun! Glad everyone liked the chapter from Madara's perspective. I will continue to try hard to keep him IC as he starts to develop deeper feelings for Sakura. Not much to say here, just happy that all you readers and reviewers are enjoying my story.

Sorry for the two week break. Being sick sucks. I'm still not 100% better, but well enough to feel up to writing a bit again (short chapter, however it's critical for the fic). I took the time to plot out some future events. There's one thing that needs to happen for Madara and Sakura's relationship to progress, and it fits perfectly into this moment of the story. I need to get it done with details rather than a quick summary, so please bear with me, even if you don't find it too interesting. You'll see what I mean. It's really important for Sakura especially and gives some insight into Madara's past.

I do hope you enjoy this chapter anyways. Forgive any grammar errors please!

_Sakura speaking to Madara in her mind._

**Madara speaking to Sakura in her mind.**

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><p><strong>-Past Bonds-<strong>

Sakura panted as she stared up at the blue sky. The rocky ground was hard on her back. She tasted blood in her mouth. Every bone and muscle in her body ached with pain and exhaustion. She tried to move her right arm, but couldn't even lift a finger. What had happened...? She couldn't remember how she'd gotten here. Her head felt fuzzy and it was hard to think. She struggled to make sense of what was going on.

A movement on her left caught her attention. Her eyes flicked over to see a battered man with long dark hair crouched nearby. His brow was furrowed with concern as he stared down at her. The red armor he wore tugged at her memory. Footsteps slowly approached, and her gaze shifted to the new arrival. A man with white hair and blue armor stopped next to her. The glare of his red eyes and the cold expression on his face triggered alarm bells in the back of her mind.

Wait... this guy... she knew him...

As the white-haired man drew a sword, the fog in her mind cleared enough for it to finally click. These guys... were Hashirama and Tobirama. The first and second Hokages. Both of whom were dead. Which meant... this was a dream. She hadn't had one of these in a while. She wondered which part of Madara's past this was. The deep voice of Tobirama brought her attention back to the moment. "Madara," he said as he raised the sword, preparing to strike. "You're finished."

"Wait, Tobirama," Hashirama ordered, halting his brother's attack. Sakura's eyes shifted back to the elder Senju for a second. He was still looking at her.

Tobirama's surprised expression quickly turned into one of confusion. "Why, brother?! This is our chance!" he snapped, anger lacing his tone.

Hashirama's reaction to his brother's words was not at all what Sakura expected. She made a mental note to think about it more later on. His face twisted into a harsh, threatening look, and he glared at Tobirama. "No one touches him!" he growled. The killing intent he projected at the same time sent cold chills down her spine, even through the haze of the dream. Judging by the look on the younger Senju's face, it must have been absolutely terrifying when it had happened in reality.

"Just get it over with, Hashirama. It would be an honor to die by your hand," she said with a defeated sigh. It was somewhat similar to how it felt when Madara took control of her body. As the Uchiha spoke, so did she, since she was seeing the dream through his eyes. It was a bit different in that the grip of his will was absent and it was sort of a first person ride, re-enacting events that had already happened. The dreams seemed to vary on how deeply she experienced them. Hopefully this was one where she could pick up on some of his emotions. Right now... she felt nothing. Just emptiness...

Hashirama shook his head in refusal. "Stop posturing. If I kill the clan leader of the Uchiha, it will only incite the young ones that follow you."

A wave of bitterness swelled within her briefly... and was that a hint of resentment? Madara's emotions, she realized. Good, this would give her more insight to his past. "There isn't anyone left with such spirit among the Uchiha anymore," she muttered. Madara's feelings settled down into hollowed emptiness again.

"Sure there are," Hashirama replied with a frown. "Perhaps not right now, but in time. Come on... why don't we end this war?" His dark eyes pleaded with her. "We made a promise, remember? To create the ideal village someday. Can't we go back to those days... and skip rocks together?"

"That's just impossible. You and I are no longer the same," she stated, pausing a few seconds before continuing. "I don't have a single brother left. I have nothing to protect. And... I just can't trust you." Her heart clenched and a fierce loneliness burst inside her. It was almost physically painful. This anguish... god, it killed her to think that Izuna's death had torn Madara up so much. It must have happened shortly before this moment in the dream, given the sheer rawness of his emotions. She wanted to curl up into a ball and sob, but she couldn't move.

"Is there anyway I can convince you to trust us?" Hashirama asked in a gentle tone. She didn't reply, and instead she looked away, gazing up at the sky for a long silent moment. Sakura couldn't tell what Madara was thinking, so she waited with as much patience as she could muster up. This was the first dream she'd had in quite a while so she really wanted to see as much as she could before she inevitably woke up.

Her mouth opened and Madara's deep voice finally said, "Well, there is a way to show each other our guts.. Either kill your brother... or kill yourself right now. And then we'll be even. I'd be willing to trust your clan." Sakura personally felt as shocked at the Uchiha's demand as the two Senjus looked.

An angry male voice yelled from beyond her sight. "Kill your little brother or kill yourself? How dare you say something so ridicu-" Hashirama silenced him with a raised hand. His eyes had slid closed and he appeared to be deep in thought.

"I agree," Tobirama said, shooting his sibling a hard glare. "This is crazy! So what are you going to do, brother? Are you going to kill me now? Or are you going to die on account of this guy's nonsense? It's idiotic. Don't listen to him!"

Hashirama stood up and gave her a warm smile. "Thank you, Madara. You really are kindhearted," he said as he removed the heavy red armor from his chest. It fell to the ground with a dull clang. Sakura watched transfixed as the elder Senju took out a kunai. He turned to his younger brother. "Listen, Tobirama... Etch these words into your heart, for these are my final words... Words that I shall be exchanging with my life. You too, my fellow clan members," Hashirama called out, and then pointed the blade at his stomach. "After my death, do not kill Madara. I forbid any fighting between the Uchiha and Senju. Swear this right now... upon the lives of your fathers, and your grandchildren yet unborn." With his final order complete, Hashirama smiled and whispered, "Farewell."

A tear dripped down the elder Senju's face. Sakura's eyes widened as the blade plunged towards vulnerable flesh. A surge of respect, regret, sadness, fear, admiration, and panic crashed over her like a tidal wave. As one, she and Madara threw off the exhaustion and pain and flung a hand out with lightning speed, catching Hashirama's wrist before the blade cut into him. Dark brown eyes looked down at her in shock.

"Enough... I have now seen your resolve," she said after a short moment of silence. A relieved grin slowly spread across the Senju's face and he dropped the kunai to grasp her hand, pulling her up to her feet. Sakura stumbled, Madara's body still weak from whatever fight had happened before this moment, but a pair of strong arms stopped her fall. Sharing Madara's annoyed embarrassment, she shoved Hashirama back, looking away from his blinding smile. "Idiot," she hissed, but the insult lacked any bite.

The Senju laughed and opened his mouth to reply, and that's when Sakura was rudely snapped back into reality, her arms and legs flailing as her mind raced to process what was going on.

Cold. Freezing cold...

And wet. Very, very wet. She did not like being wet, not at all.

She sputtered and coughed as she registered the fact that she was absolutely thoroughly soaked. Sakura blinked rapidly a few times and noted her surroundings, a reaction that was ingrained in her from years of shinobi training. It was night, maybe nearly morning, she was sitting on the grass in a clearing, there were trees nearby, the sound of water, and Madara, who was still disguised as his younger self, was standing on top of the river and laughing his ass off at her.

Oh, so that's what happened. What a dick move. Really.

Sakura narrowed her eyes at him as she quickly sealed the memory of the dream away behind her mental barrier. She wanted to analyze it thoroughly whenever she got a chance before telling the Uchiha she'd seen more of his past. His relationship with Hashirama was tangled and confusing and each time she had a dream or vision regarding the Senju, it only added more layers to its complexity. She needed to figure it out. A lot of his memories involved Hashirama and sorting it all out was key to truly understanding Madara, especially considering how weirdly upset he got whenever the topic was brought up. She didn't think it was just because he lost to the first Hokage... there was more to it...

Madara's increasing laughter interrupted her thoughts. Well then. Back to the current business. She wasn't about to take being soaked with freezing water without getting him back for it. He had interrupted a very important dream and she was actually fairly annoyed about that. Unfortunately, her tackle missed, but she did manage to land a small splash of water on him with a kick. The Uchiha shot her a taunting smirk and canceled the clone, popping into her mind a second later.

Sakura took the opportunity to get the last word. '_Dick_,' she grumbled. Simple and to the point. With an irritated sigh, she busied herself trying to get the excess water out of her clothes and hair.

'**Language**,' Madara scolded with a mental grin. Sakura rolled her eyes and huffed. Still, she couldn't help the small smile that tugged at her lips. She'd come to appreciate his sense of humor more these days. Of all the ways he could have woken her up, of course he chose the most obnoxious...

When Sakura gave in to a genuine laugh a few seconds later, the Uchiha inside her mind joined in with her.

* * *

><p><strong>Next Chapter:<strong> Sakura and Madara have a small heart to heart talk before a day of bad news and surprises.

**Fun Challenge:** If you all can collectively guess the mix of four bits of bad news and/or surprises that I have in mind for the next chapter, I'll tell you a fun fact about the creation of this story. One or two of them might be a little bit tricky, so good luck!


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